It’s not often that I post about a current fashion show, but then it is not often that someone presents a show that makes me want to have been there, to have soaked it all in, to even wear the clothes. In this case it is the pre-fall Chanel metiers d’art show, in which all the little craft houses owned by Chanel are put in the spotlight.
It makes sense that Lagerfeld choose Scotland as the inspiration for the show, seeing as how the house has recently acquired luxury cashmere maker, Barrie Knitwear. The factory is located in Hawick, Scotland, and before the show at Linlithgow Palace (birthplace of Mary, Queen of Scots), the journalists covering the show were treated to a tour of the facility.
And the show was full of cashmere, along with lots of tweed, plaid, argyle, tams and sporran-inspired handbags. It could have easily crossed over into Scottish cliche territory, but instead, it all looked so right in a Chanel sort of way. Maybe it was because one just expects to see tweeds and knits in a Chanel show. After all, Coco Chanel herself spent many days in the Scottish countryside with the Duke of Westminster, and starting in the 1920s, sourced Scottish tweeds to be used in her creations.
To see just how dramatic the show was you can see a video of it on youtube, along with still shots of each look. Be sure to note the metiers d’art touches: feather neck ruffs from Lemarie, incredible Lesage embroidery, beautiful gloves by Causse, tweed and leather shoes and boots by Massaro, and of course, lots of tweed and leather camellias from flower maker Guillet.
And note how many of these looks can be achieved with vintage finds. It’s enough to make one go running to the nearest thrift store or vintage clothing shop in search of the perfect argyle/tweed/leather/cashmere combination.
For a small taste:
All photographs copyright Giovanni Giannoni for Women’s Wear Daily. DO NOT pin or copy these photos to Pinterest or to Tumblr from this site.
The Vintage Traveler 
YUMMY!
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Thanks for posting this! So many elements I love here: the split-front long skirt, the doublets and ruffs, the side buckles on bodices and, oh, those Elizabethan and Renaissance-looking cream dresses at the end. I’m glad to see that the shoe included mostly flat shoes and boots. Yes, now, I’ll have to challenge myself to re-create one of these looks with vintage clothes.
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I too was amazed by the flat shoes and boots. Loved them!
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Loved it. So refreshing to have a show location that adds another dimension to the clothes.
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Agreed; the impact would not have been the same had the show been held in Paris.
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The tweeds in the collection were from Linton Tweeds, a weaving mill in Carlisle, Cumbria, UK – where I used to live. The company has been a Chanel supplier for years. I taught at the art college in the town and a trip to Linton Tweeds was par for the course. Knowing your passion for the history of manufacturing Lizzie, you will be interested in the mill’s history. Carlisle and the surrounding area had several print and weaving factories, influential in producing 20th century textiles. Morton Sundour for example produced fabrics for Liberty London. Some of the William Morris designs were printed at the Stead McAlpin print works just outside Carlisle.
http://www.lintondirect.co.uk/
Morton Sundour
http://tinyurl.com/adazceg
Stead McAlpin
http://openart.tulliehouse.co.uk/exhibitions/heart-and-hand/morris-william/strawberry-thief/
It’s great that Hawick just over the Border from Carlisle is enjoying a new lease of life supplying cashmere knitwear.
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Interested? I’d say! Thanks so the extra bit of information and for the links.
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There is a prettiness to this collection which has been lacking for years – fashion has been more about sex than beauty since the late 1990s.
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I’m all for welcoming prettiness back!
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You have got to be kidding me? Tweeds aren’t too bad, tartans for the most part are always lovely (not all of them), even an Argyle pattern is alright. But why in heaven’s name would you throw all three together willy-nilly and call it fashionable? I mostly object to the awful patterning on the Argyle stockings being paired with the kilt-style skirts in the collection, truly scary. Yes, I’m somewhat conservative in my fashion choices, age and weight being the determining factor in my choices bein appropriate for wear, but even a young woman is going to look silly in some of those pieces. It’s really just too busy and fussy looking to pair pieces that look like plaid skirts with Argyle stockings, the lace was not too bad, at least.
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Being a fashion show, the looks are a bit extreme, which is necessary in order to get the designer’s point across. In this case Lagerfeld definitely set the scene and the mood, and then carried through with the clothing and the styling. I can’t imagine that anyone would pile it all on like this for the street. The strength of a show like this one is to make the target customer want to buy into the fantasy, and thus, buy the clothes.
Admittedly, this appeals much more to a person like me who loves tweed and plaid and argyle than to one who does not.
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Oh. Yes! I’ve bookmarked so I can watch the video later, Lizzie. You know I’m loving this!
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Of course you are! Watch the video, then look at the slideshow. Simply amazing.
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