FASHION / PARIS FALL ’91 COLLECTIONS : Chanel Shifts Gears : Karl Lagerfeld Puts His Signature on Ts, Faded Jeans, Other American Classics
As Chanel goes, so goes the nation. It has been that way in fashion for at least two years, and it was never more apparent than at Monday morning’s show.
The Chanel look is the one everyone seems to want right now. Women who can afford it buy the real thing; those who can’t buy knockoffs. No wonder it was the hottest ticket of the week here, where designers continue to present their fall ready-to-wear collections.
There was plenty to watch in the audience. Sylvester Stallone autographed program notes from his front-row seat. New York designer Oscar de la Renta got a round of applause as he walked past the American fashion press. (He staged his first show here Tuesday. His protege, New York designer Carolyne Roehm, has been with him at several shows this week.)
And Dolph Lundgren, the bionic antagonist of “Rocky IV” and “Masters of the Universe” and former boyfriend of Grace Jones, feverishly chewed a wad of gum while waiting for a dark-haired, dark-eyed, swivel-hipped model to appear on the Chanel runway. He has been tracking her through Paris this week after first seeing her last month in Los Angeles at a Gianni Versace fashion show.
The clothes on the runway, and designer Karl Lagerfeld, who created them, were the real stars of the show. Just when it seemed as if Chanel devotees might crumble under the weight of all those strands of pearls, gold chains and pop-beads, quilted leather headbands and handbags, silk gardenias and logo-encrusted bracelet cuffs, Lagerfeld suddenly shifted gears.
To The Gap.
Chanel-ized versions of basics from the popular American chain came blasting down the runway in a wild burst of energy: single-pocket T-shirts and short jean skirts, boot-leg-cut jeans and classic denim jackets. Fuchsia tweed jackets and feather boas finished some looks, including a pair of faded jeans covered with small gold Chanel coins. Fuchsia tights and gold platform-heel pumps, along with plenty of sporty gold chains and pearls, topped off denim skirts with frayed hems. A goofball black hat had a saucer brim and a crown shaped like a coffee cup.
From his couture collection, Lagerfeld carried over pleated skirts that actually included separate panels, like carwash curtains, worn with square-cut jackets. Other suits had circle skirts or a separate velvet panel in front to let the skirts swing away from the model’s body. Colors were navy, deep violet, fuchsia and hot-pink tweed.
Things got a little nutty at times: Lagerfeld sent out black fishnet bodysuits worn with little besides the newest footwear: Chanel motorcycle boots. And there were long, sheer black evening dresses topped by black quilted leather baseball jackets.
But U.S. retailers went wild for all of it. “It’s young, colorful, taken right from the street fashion scene,” said Rose Marie Bravo, I. Magnin chief executive.
Joan Kaner, fashion director for Neiman Marcus, suggested the zany stuff could be just the tonic shoppers need. “If the economy does snap back, and the war really is over, everybody will want something upbeat,” she said.
There was a meeting of minds this season concerning fashion’s silliest issue: skirt lengths. Both Lagerfeld and Christian Lacroix showed them at mid-thigh. Like Lagerfeld, Lacroix used lots of color, little black and plenty of leggings to replace pants “as women used to know them.” And like Lagerfeld, he toned things down with fewer accessories.
Beyond that, the two trend-setters parted ways. As rowdy and aggressive as Lagerfeld’s show proved to be, Lacroix’s was refined. If one designer portrayed women as fiery, freewheeling go-getters, the other saw them as gentle people who ought to be protected, even by their soft, sensual clothing.
Lacroix’s knee-baring coats dominated his show. Made for international travelers, they were lightweight enough even for mild winters in Los Angeles. One full-cut style, in chartreuse plaid mohair with big, heart-shaped gold buttons, went over a rib-knit bodysuit and deep-brown mock crocodile ankle boots. A warm turquoise swing coat topped a close-cut, brown jersey dress and matching tights.
Damask dinner suits had informal, zip-front jackets or tailored jewel buttons. Instead of ball gowns, Lacroix showed long, tissue-thin taffeta skirts sashed at the waist with full-sleeved chiffon blouses in shades of platinum, copper or green-gold.
Accessories included small satin pouches, satin shoes with mid-height hourglass heels and small gemstones on the toes, as well as Lacroix’s signature heart-shaped gold brooches.
Valentino got a bit carried away with his blue plaid skirt, jacket, handbag, shawl and over-the-knee boots. Not to mention a pair of sheer, black lace leggings that showed off the backside of Claudia Schiffer (the model in all those Guess? ads).
But there were enough pretty, ladylike dresses with bell-shaped skirts and suits with bouffant black velvet skirts under tweed jackets to make up for it. Valentino’s over-the-knee satin boots with bows at the top, first seen in his couture collection, are an accessory that would put snap into any outfit. His white damask dinner suit with deep-brown mink cuffs and his navy blue blouson coat that just tickles the knee were other good looks.
At Christian Dior, designer Gianfranco Ferre’s short, chocolate-brown, buttery leather coats and bottle-green mock crocodile jeans were among the best ideas. Others were short, deep-gray cape coats with collars made of black leather belts and gold buckles.
Ferre’s evening dresses in heavy-looking satin or lace had too much going on. Roses under the skirt, jumbo-size bows at the bodice, tulle sprouting from the neckline, were enough for 14 dresses, not just one. And he pushed bodysuits to the bare minimum with a brown leather leotard (a bodysuit without the legs) over matching tights. It needed something, like a skirt.
Paloma Picasso approved of the short skirts in the collection. “The one thing I think is not going to work is long skirts,” she said. “Except maybe in America. Eastern women have always loved them.”
If the collection didn’t quite work, Stallone said girlfriend Jennifer Flavin’s modeling did. At least for him. (She’s relatively new to the runway.) “I’m proud of her, she’s doing a great job.”
But the week’s heavy dose of fashion apparently did not persuade him to go shopping. Stallone has worn just about the same thing to every show--black leather jacket, T-shirt and jeans.
No such dressing down went on at British designer Vivienne Westwood’s Monday night show. The audience wore bustiers and leopard bathrobe coats, marabou feather hemlines and pearl chokers, pink-flowered print vests and gold hoop earrings. And those were just the men.
Westwood, recently named her country’s designer of the year and widely considered to be a genius, showed in Paris, not London, this season for the first time. Katharine Hamnett and John Galliano made the same move in past years, because London’s fashion week has not attracted the large number of journalists and store buyers that Paris does.
Instead of showing in the tent set up in a courtyard at the Louvre, Westwood borrowed the smaller studio of her friend, Paris designer Azzedine Alaia. The curly wrought-iron pillars and the vaulted glass ceiling set a romantic scene.
The show was a hoot. Cupid-printed pink eveningwear resembled housecoats and nightgowns. A fake leopard cape was fancifully laced with pink bows. Plaid jackets that seemed to be entirely shaped by folding and stitching, instead of by cutting, were some of the best designs in the show. They had black velvet cuffs or heart- shaped black velvet lapels.
In an X-rated segment, Westwood’s female models wore satin bikinis with codpieces and matching corsets. They carried heavy gold chains or wore thick black ropes around their necks and stalked the runway to the sweet, dainty sounds of Tchaikovsky’s “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy.”
Calmer outfits were enlivened with crocheted spider-web leggings, bearskin hats and platform- heel shoes so tall the models kept falling off of them.
At the end, Westwood beamed her way down the runway, barefoot, and carrying her little dog.
