Last night the Chanel army descended on Shanghai for the unveiling of the label's latest pre-fall collection and film. The event, which was held on a glass-fronted custom-built barge, with a view of the skyscrapers of Pudong, was opened with a viewing of a film, which saw Coco Chanel day-dreaming about going to China in the sixties and creating a collection inspired by a Mao suit. Karl Lagerfeld faced some opposition to his use of Europeans in yellow face, playing Chinese characters. Lagerfeld explained that "It is an homage to Europeans trying yo look Chinese, like in "The Good Earth', the people in the movie liked the idea that they had to look like Chinese. Or like actors in 'Madame Butterfly'. People around the world like to dress up as different nationalities."
In spite of this, the Paris- Shanghai Metiers d'Art Collection (it's full name) and Lagerfeld's first visit to the city, was still a success. With models, dressed in leather trousers, velvet jackets with embroidered sleeves, elegant tiered sheer dresses, structured caped-shoulders, rice-paddy hats in tomato reds, oacres, greens and navy blues, Lagerfeld made it clear that the show wasn't about the real city, but instead, ".....About the idea of China, not the reality.... It has the spirit of, and is inspired by, but is unrelated to China. It is not authentic like a Peking Opera or something. " To see a slide show, check out style.com, but of course we couldn't resist sharing some of our favourites with you.
