Fine Art and Fashion: Designers Drawn to Paris

A fluid and shimmering gown in deep blue and green was a highlight of Pascal Millet's ready-to-wear collection during Paris Fashion Week SS17. Cover picture of Marimekko in Paris and all photographs by Elli Ioannou. 

We look at some of the most artistic fashion designers showing in Europe today, the story behind their careers and their recent ready-to-wear shows at Paris Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2017. These designers, often with fine art backgrounds, showed collections that are influential in the worlds of both fashion and design, Elli Ioannou reports from Paris

Veronique Branquinho: Edwardian romance

BELGIAN designer Veronique Branquinho is another successful graduate from Antwerp's Royal Academy of Fine Arts. She has an interesting background that goes beyond fashion design. Branquinho has worked as a magazine editor, she is an exhibiting artist with shows held in Tokyo, Shanghai and Moscow and a fashion professor in Vienna. She designed ranges of womenswear and menswear plus shoes and bags before relaunching her brand in 2012, in partnership with Onward luxury group. An industrial warehouse space was the designer's choice for her SS17 season at Paris fashion week.

Plunging pleats, lace and faded floral prints

The Edwardian aesthetic of the collection was enhanced with a predominantly nude colour palette mixed with 1920s style lips of plum red. There were nightdress styled pieces with frilled and lacy bib-fronts, plunging pleated backs, faded floral prints ~ a combination of fine, antique detail and modern lines. Patent ankle boots with all in one beige trompe l'oeil socks inspired by early 20th Century fashions. Visually the show had a strong design look with its overall presentation and the choice of a single classic colour to work with. The show had both a uniformity and a sense of both poetry and romance.

Fashion designer Pascal Millet in Paris

Pascal Millet's design career has been shaped by his experience of working at Balenciaga, Givenchy, Alexander McQueen and as head designer at Maison Carven. His clients include aristocrats and members of the royal family from the Middle East and Europe and stretch as far afield as Japan & Australia. His spring/summer 2017 ready-to-wear collection's inspiration was Princess Caroline of Monaco. In fact, very specifically a lacy white gown she wore at a 1976 Red cross ball. This embodied the beauty, sportiness and glamour he wanted to include in his new collection. Indeed the guests at the show held at the at the Foundation Mona Bismarck Gallery, included his aristocratic and royal clients, among the colourful fashion media and personalities.


Inspiration: Princess Caroline of Monaco

The start of the runway resembled a luxurious room fit for a chic royal. The zig-zag catwalk was spread out over three vast rooms. Each guest had an intimate, up close experience of the collection.The opening music with the silky voice of Sade set the scene. Models wearing satin suits referred to the Princess Caroline look with slick hair and a long, classic pony tail. The collection covered a wide gamut of styles. Highlights included jumpsuits, both long and short in a variety of fabrics; navy blue and green floral Seventies stye dresses with bohemian overtones; white flowing pants and shirts. The colour palette of oyster shell pink, white, khaki and royal blue was in evidence at other designers' collections including Valentin Yudashkin and Moon Young Hee. The overwhelming applause at the end of the Pascal Millet show is indicative of the designer’s strong following with loyal clients attending a reception afterwards.

Sculpted, metallic corsets

Valentin Yudashkin has been showing at Paris Fashion Week since 1999 at both the pret-a-porter and haute couture weeks. He is one of the only Russian designers to be accepted into the Fédération Française de la Mode. He has his designs represented at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Louvre Museum and the Californian Fashion Museum. Yudashkin is also one of the main figures behind Moscow Fashion week, helping to grow the fashion industry in Russia, as well as nurturing emerging young designers. The designer presented his SS17 ready-to-wear collection at the Westin Vendome hotel's opulent salon where the fashion media and clients rubbed shoulders in the front row. A pre-show live satellite by the designer addressing the audience felt very regal. The new artistic director of the brand is Galina Yudashkina, the designer's 25 year old daughter.

A symphony of metallic & neutrals at Valentin Yudashkin

A metallic, mirrored runway added an artistic edge to the show, as the models were reflected as abstract shapes as they moved swiftly along the catwalk. The collection had overtones of glam meets Seventies chic with a predominantly white, pink oyster shell, bronze and royal blue colour palette. The fabrics and shapes ranged from silk shorts to white suits. This spring summer 2017 collection had more of a fresh look, with pale safari style suits, accented with white Oxford shoes. The collection had a range styles inspired by men's fashion. This included a black sleeveless jumpsuit with tuxedo lapels. Signature gowns included metallic corsets resembling armour. The collection's new direction was influenced by the new artistic vision Galina Yudashkina. She took a closing bow with her newborn son, on behalf of her father, to a standing ovation from the audience.

Designer Christian Wijnants backstage in Paris 

Belgian designer Christian Wijnants is also a graduate of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts. Based in Antwerp he has already achieved many accolades. His graduate collection won the Dries Van Noten Award for Best Collection (he later worked at the design house). Wijnants also won the Grand Prix at the Festival d’Hyeres, the Woolmark Prize and was nominated for Swarovski Collective Prize for Innovation and opened a flagship store in 2015. His ready-to-wear collection in Paris, held at the Galerie de minéralagie et de Géologie, was inspired by aerodynamics and influenced by the artist Christo’s recent installation The Floating Piers at Italy’s Lake Iseo.

Brilliant floral prints & fluid forms at Christian Wijnants

The collection included floral prints, polka dots and monochrome kaftans in burnt orange and Royal Blue parachute jumpsuits. Softly tailored blouses and nylon coats were padded and ribbed while the washed and crushed silks created extra tactility.
 Wijnants new trousers are straight, wide and extra long, giving an easy elegance to every look. Knitted pleats featured in ensembles with jacquard florals and raffia finishings popping out of delicate knitwear. Harness tops with a nylon armature alternated with blouses with kimono sleeves and ballooning backs. The 
thick black Japanese wooden platform sandals give a sturdy basis to the lightweight garments.

Creative contrasts at Moon Young Hee 

The Paris-based Korean designer Moon Young Hee's aesthetic can be partly attributed to her cultural background as well as having studied French literature rather than fashion design. Her new collection for Paris ready-to-wear was presented at the historical halls of the University of Medicine in the district of Saint-Germain-des-Prés in the French capital. As it was the final day of Paris fashion week, there was a serene atmosphere among both the journalists, photographer and guests.

Detail of a silken blue skirt and jacket

The high ceilinged hall, lined with windows on one side and statues on the other, felt somewhat medieval in tone yet inviting. The SS17 collection included wide trousers, long skirts, light raincoats, extra large coats, amorphous jackets, men's style shirts and translucent blouses. There was a mixture of materials ranging from nylon to silk with models of diverse cultural backgrounds. Today, Moon Young Hee has a flagship store on the banks of the Seine opposite the Louvre.

Abstract & artistic contrasts at Anne Sofie Madsen

Anne Sofie Madsen is a graduate of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. She trained under John Galliano in Paris, before moving across to work for Alexander McQueen as a junior designer. In 2014, Anne Sofie Madsen presented her first fashion show at Paris ready-to-wear fashion week. For the SS17 season, the brand is part of the Swarovski collective. The collection was presented with a backdrop of columns of audio-visual digital floral art. Models with Seventies style high-school mistress spectacles and pinned curly hair presented a collection showing the strong imprint of her early mentors at John Galliano and Alexander McQueen: more art than fashion.

Anne Sofie Madsen’s designs are built on contrasts and ambivalence where fashion is replaced by something more abstract.
“I find inspiration in the contrasts and borders between the primitive and civilized, the exotic and classic, the barbaric and elegant, the futuristic and historical,” the designer says. “I am fascinated by the point where fashion replaces the body with something abstract ~ an idea or ideal rather than an organism. I want to capture a couture finish and an attention to detail within ready-to-wear. I aim to reinterpret the traditions of handwork and the use of techniques within couture into contemporary materials and silhouettes.”

Bold colours and sharp shapes at Alon Livne 

Alon Livne is a young Israeli designer who began his career working at Alexander McQueen in London and Roberto Cavalli in Florence. Winning the Israeli version of Project Runway gave him a lot of media coverage. Livne's style is elaborate and sculptural fused with couture detailing. First showing at MBFW in New York, won him celebrity clients including Naomi Campbell and Lady Gaga. The singer Beyoncé even commissioned him to design the costumes for the Mrs Carter tour.

Sculptural forms & couture details

Showing for the first time at Paris Fashion Week for the ready-to-wear season, the designer presented a show melding live theatre and art installation at the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers. Alon Livne was inspired by Sixties Japanese pattern maker and graphic designer Kazumasa Nagai. The models were like live sculptures, rotating after long periods of time, with a backdrop of a flowing liquid pink fountain. Presentations like Alon Liven's are a great way for young designers to enter the prestigious world of fashion week and often offer a visual respite from the classic runway, allowing for raw creativity and experimentation.

Strong prints at Marimekko

The Marimekko presentaton was done in a manner more like early fashion shows of the Fifties and Sixties. It was shown in an intimate space at the Ambassade de Finlande in Paris. There were intervals of runway shows then models mingled, posed and lingered among the guests who had an up close and personal experience of the brand's new SS17 ready to wear range. The collection reintroduced five key Marimekko garments from the sixties and seventies, selected from the archives by creative director Anna Teurnell. The Monrepos, Linjaviita, Liidokki and Korppi dresses and the Kentauri skirt are among the more recognizable ready-to-wear pieces in Marimekko’s archives. The new collection paid homage to the brand's playful use of print and silhouette which is it's signature.

10 Question Column: American Photographer Tammy Ruggles

Cover picture Tawny Light and Train (above) photographed by Tammy Ruggles.

Tammy Ruggles is a legally blind photographer who lives in Northern Kentucky. While most people struggle to take a decent looking artistic photograph, Tammy manages to capture the world beautifully with almost total loss of her eyesight, Paul McDonnell reports

Tammy was born with Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) which results in a slow, permanent loss of her eyesight. Based in Northern Kentucky, Tammy dedicates her time to photography while she still can. We thought her story was inspiring and we'd like to share it with our readers.

Photographer Tammy Ruggles

1. Where did you grow up and does this place still influence your photography?
I spent my early childhood (kindergarten, first and second grades, in Cleveland Ohio), and the rest in Northern Kentucky, and both places seem to influence me, but more often it is the rural scenery that I relate to most. Yes, both places very much influence the kind and style of photography I lean toward today. I like a little "urban" along with the outdoor, nature images.


2. Why did you choose photography as your artistic métier?
I chose it because it allows me to express my creativity. I'm a writer too, but a photo can say as much if not more than a poem or story. Photography sometimes expresses things and emotions that words cannot.

Sunrise captures the green landscape of Kentucky

3. At the beginning of your career, how did you break into the photography world?
This was in 2013. Once I had a few photos that I liked, I queried publications or websites to ask if they would be interested in considering them for publication. I was accustomed to this because of my writing career, so I decided to propose my photography in the same way.

4. What aspect of photography gives you the most happiness?
Finding an image that represents my idea of art, or an emotion, or something that I think the viewer may like to see. Finding an image that makes me say, "I'm proud that I captured that. It says something to me, and hopefully to others."

New Life represents the photographer's journey

5. How would you describe working as a photographer in America today?
My way of working has become a pleasant routine, and a little on the solitary side, which is the way I like to work, even as a writer. I'm not an introvert by any means, but I do like my quiet times, and find ways to be an artist. I also think that photographers in America today face a lot of "competition" to find work that is compensated, but I like photography whether I'm compensated or not. Obviously, it is good to be paid for your work, however, but it isn't the most important thing to me.

6. Can you describe the experience, person or training that has had the greatest impact on you?
It isn't just one person or thing, but several. In my early years, even before I became a professional, fine art photographer, it was the study of art and literature that influenced me. My high school art teacher Dan McCane, and my college art instructor Jeanette Blakefield taught me the basics. And throughout the years I learnt from my heroes Ansel Adams and Alfred Stieglitz. I've never had formal photography training, but I use my former art education, self study, and experience as an artist. In 2013, when I really became a serious photographer, I learnt a lot from The Art of Photography's Ted Forbes. He really helped me make the connection between art and photography.



Sun Wash has an abstract play of light among leaves

7. Describe what your studio is like and whether you have a set schedule of working everyday? Or is the process more fluid?
I don't have a studio, just a little corner of a room where my computer and oversize computer monitor sit. Once I've captured my images, I'm excited to connect the camera to the PC to see what I've captured, then begin to delete or save the images. Then I may do a little post production on the ones I like, like converting them to black and white, adding saturation, cropping, or whatever I think the image needs to be complete and "artistic" enough for me.

8. Do you find your creative process is more rational or instinctive?
It's a little of both. I do rely on my former art education and the elements of photography, but some of it is most definitely instinctive ~ sometimes I'm not even sure what I've captured until I can enlarge it on my 47-inch monitor. This is where the artistic part of photography begins for me.

A striking image against wintry trees, Limbs

9. How has today’s technology effected your work as a photographer?
It would be impossible for me to be a practising photographer without today's technology, given my visual impairment. Before digital cameras, large monitors, and computers, I couldn't read cameras or see in darkrooms (due to night blindness, which is a feature of RP, the retinal disease that I was born with), so digital cameras opened the door of photography to me, and so did my large monitor, which enables me to get a better view of what my camera has captured.

I literally point and shoot the blurry scenery around me, but can sometimes make out subjects that are closer to me, say, within a foot or so. That's why I didn't become a photographer until 2013. I didn't realise that I could.



Blue and Green in A New Purpose

10. What do you find the most challenging aspect of your work as a legally blind person?
The most challenging is not being able to see all that is out there in the world to capture. If you can imagine seeing everything in bokeh fashion, this is how I see. Nothing is clear or detailed, but instead, blurry shapes of colours. But the large monitor, and zooming in on my images helps me to see what I have on my camera, and I begin my artistic adventure. It's very thrilling to me.

Another challenging aspect is, of course, my continuous vision loss. RP doesn't stop happening. So I know I won't be able to practise photography this way forever. It will come to an end, and it's getting closer and closer, because my vision worsens with time. I'm pushing myself this year, 2016, to take photos. This may be my last year. But then, I said that last year too.

It's just so hard to let go of photography, but I know I will. I'm not sure if I'll use my camera in 2017. Whatever happens, I'm so proud and happy to have had the chance to be the fine art photographer I always was inside.

The beautiful tones and colours of the photographer's Tawny Light

What's in a Name: Bill Gaytten's Maison John Galliano

Diaphanous and romantic, Bill Gaytten's SS17 collection has his own imprimatur. Cover picture & photography by Elli Ioannou

Bill Gaytten's new collection for Maison John Galliano showed an engaging femininity and sense of romance. The designer has developed his own signature at the fashion house in the past five years, with a light and fluid aesthetic. Our Paris correspondent, Elli Ioannou, takes a look back at the highlights of the Spring/Summer 2017 ready-to-wear collection, shown earlier this month in the French capital

The show's runway at Lycee Carnot in Paris

WALKING into the rather dilapidated yet storybook Lyceé Carnot school in Paris’ 17th arrondissement, guests at the new John Galliano runway show were seated on high school wooden benches. The show's attendees were clearly still part of the original John Galliano club, wearing bold outfits captured by the photographers at the event along with the runway show. Bill Gaytten has emerged from the shadows of couturier John Galliano in the past five years and presented an appealing and low-key SS17 ready-to-wear range which should pique the interest of a new generation.

The collection's play on fluidity & transparency 

Originally trained as an architect, and working behind the scenes with Galliano for 23 years, Gaytten was pushed into the spotlight when he was made the creative director of the house after the designer's controversial dismissal in 2011. A rebranding of the label was officially launched with a change of logo and new campaign last year. The latest spring/summer 2017 collection reflects a classic design direction more in line with the brand's owner, the LMVH group, than the more over-the-top and avant-garde style of its former designer.



Pastel hues added to the sense of romance 

Young models, almost sprinted around the rectangular runway at the Lyceé Carnot wearing soft romantic hues, with looks inspired by the 1930s. The official theme of the collection was inspired by “dress-ups” viewed through a young girl’s naïve imagination when she discovers trunks of pre-loved clothes from another era. Dark, transparent dresses and boxy jackets were a counterpoint to the floaty, white long gowns. 


Milliner Stephen Jones' mask

Papier Mache animal masks were specially created by milliner Stephen Jones for the show. At first glance the looks offered an innocent-looking vision of youth with sheer silk chiffon, lace and tulle dresses. However on closer inspection, the details reveal the subtle but ingrained signature of John Galliano in their form: bias ruffled tiers and draped decolletes, black, open-waisted Thirties cut pants, with v-shaped cropped bolero jackets and signature blue and white sailor stripes in a bold vertical pattern.

Sheer and flowing dresses were mixed with mens’ jackets in upholstery stripes, further distressed and re-embroidered, while trousers were intentionally over sized and shaped by layers of vintage-look leather belts and Art Deco style costume jewellery.

Bold stripes added a strong contrast 

Transparent looks revealed undergarments that seemed more innocent than seductive. The romantic looks were juxtaposed with the post-punk Nineties soundtrack, including the finale echoing with Kurt Cobain's angst and sense of rebellious youth. The key accessory to be launched this collection was the Chain bag exclusive to Maison John Galliano SS17. Stiletto sandals with leaf detailing, completed the transformation from childlike daydream to a modern vision of femininity.

Tap on photographs for full-screen slideshow

Maison John Galliano's new accessory the Chain bag launched in Paris

Delicately gathered pink chiffon sleeves and fine darts on the bodice created a romantic summer dress

The white dresses had a sense of freedom and innocence contrasted by the transparency of the fabric

Leather belts added a note of robust detail to the flowing dresses 

One of the key trends in Paris for SS17 was underwear as outerwear and this was a strong theme in Bill Gaytten's collection

This diaphanous dress with its rows of undulating frills was a highlight of the collection

A Thirties style jacket in cream linen is tucked into broad, low-waisted trousers

Modern Grecian goddess in white chiffon

A glimmer of sparkle added a sense of evening drama to this sheer gown

Blue and black with unexpected contrasts of transparency and opaqueness made this a highlight of the show

The new Chain bag worn with pink and white underwear as outerwear

New Parisian warrior with feather and comfortable double-breasted jacket

Black lace transparency

 The new trouser designs added avant-garde element to the show

Stephen Jones' masks added a slightly surreal, story book quality to the collection

 Pattern and bold stripes made a jaunty counterpoint to the diaphanous white dresses

The models strode out in the finale in Paris 

One of the guests at the John Galliano show in Paris earlier this month 

An asymmetrical suit in blue and red check with a quirky hat made this guest part of the John Galliano ethos

Cyborgs and Chanel's New World Order in Paris

Chanel creative director Karl Lagerfeld with Lily-Rose Depp at his SS17 ready-to-wear show in Paris. Tap photographs for a slideshow of the collection.


Each season Karl Lagerfeld creates Chanel collections that seduce and polarise new generations of the jeunesse dorée. His latest work, shown in Paris earlier this month, for Spring/Summer 2017 was set in a digital world with two cyborgs opening the show, both a commentary on society's obsession with new technology, followed by a brilliant yet wearable collection that seemed both contemporary and retro with a dash of Eighties futurism, writes Jeanne-Marie Cilento

Cyborgs opened the show at the Chanel Data Center

KARL Lagerfeld, brings an acute mind and a fulsome creativity to his collections that make his shows sought after each season in Paris. Chanel’s creative director since 1983, Lagerfeld has always loved the latest technology, he looks to the future and doesn't like nostalgia yet has an expansive knowledge and passion for the history of design, architecture and fashion. As a designer, he likes to test the technical skills of the Chanel ateliers to their limits with new techniques and materials. Under the great, soaring glass roof of the Grand Palais with dappled sunlight filtering onto the catwalk, Karl Lagerfield created for his latest ready-to-wear show, what he called the Chanel Data Center: a white digital world with the flashing lights of computer servers alongside the runway and trolleys of red, yellow and blue cables.



The great, soaring roof of the Grand Palais  

A master of creating fashion spectacle, two be suited models in bouclé tweed wearing white robot helmets strode onto the runway to Patrick Cowley's electro remix of Donna Summer’s I Feel Love. Walking out to the disco beat, the models with rather charming robotic faces seemed inspired by the broad features of Coco Chanel. The two cyborgs introduced a surprisingly wearable show full of brilliant colour with classic tweed suits updated by vivid, neon hues and the romantic whimsy of lacy, pale pink wisps of lingerie.

"Even if you don't like the idea, technology rules the world because it changes the world and has made many things easier,'' said Lagerfeld before presenting his collection. "My idea is to show the most iconic jacket on a creature of an unknown future. It means that Chanel is timeless and as the French say immortel. The data centre is something of our time and suggests the idea of the modern woman whatever the time, the century or the circumstances are. It is something I felt, I like the idea and translated it. But it is not technology in a cold way, it is 'intimate technology' ~ armour for the outside world ~ and something much more refined for the private world." Lagerfeld's inspiration for the catwalk was a vision of a woman walking through kilometres of cables, metallic racks and computer cabinets, a mistress of the digital universe.

Chanel Home Girl: fluid and comfortable

The whole collection had a feeling of a free-wheeling, comfortable modernity that felt both contemporary, retro and futuristic at the same time. But Lagerfield's future aesthetic has a certain playful, Eighties whimsy (a thread that ran through other SS17 shows in Paris including Anthony Vaccarello's debut at YSL) than a hard-edged, nihilistic vision of tomorrow. "Without the human hand, without delicacy and savoir-faire, nothing would be possible,'' says Lagerfield. "After all, don’t two robots wearing Chanel suits prove, perhaps, that more than any technological breakthrough, it is femininity that truly transcends time?" The designer believes that in an ultra-technological world our daily life is increasingly 'dematerialised', he wants to put humans back at the centre of everything, making what he calls Intimate Technology the theme of his new collection.

One of Chanel's new bags with flashing LEDs 

The designer played with digital motifs creating a beaded top embroidered like a motherboard, graphic prints that looked like vivid screen savers and hand bags flashing inside with the interlocking CC logo created by LED lights. There was a jaunty 1980s home girl vibe with side ponytails and sideways baseball caps perched with the peak to the left: "Today, caps are what people wear the most and so I had to make a Chanel version of that and wear it in a different way on the side, in a way it looks really like a refined hat," Lagerfield explains. Monochrome tweeds were combined with neon hues and worn with large retro Eighties gold earrings and long pendant chains embellished with camellias and held on with a snap hook. The Chanel jackets were more fluid and less form-fitting and the checks a little bigger than usual. The collection's shoes were mostly flat or with a low heel with broad cross over straps.


Francis Bean Cobain at the Chanel show

Lagerfield not only enjoys the latest technology but loves featuring the jeunesse dorée in his campaigns for Chanel. This season, his front row included the Chanel's ambassadors, the beguiling Lily-Rose Depp, Anna Mouglalis, Gaspard Ulliel and Caroline de Maigret alongside American singers Usher and Young Thug. Plus French actress Alma Jodorowsky, Chinese actresses Bai Bai He and Sandra Ma and the young Japanese Nana Komatsu. Chanel's connection with the young and the future was put into material form with new details and new fabrics in the SS17 collection. For example, touch fasteners replace buttons, braiding becomes a thick jersey cable, woven multi-coloured tweeds include rubber strands and vinyl strips, cotton, denim and wool threads line up like electronic cables, collars and cuffs are swathed in embossed translucent gauze.



Brilliant colour as a counterpoint to pastels

There are bursts of colour with backgrounds of blue, red, yellow, pink, purple, black and navy and a mix of pastels and electric shades. The home-girl caps are in silk or tweed while the sleek clutch bags are made of perforated silver leather. The unlined jackets and big coats are made to be as light as knitwear and are worn over long skirts and pleated blouses. Thrown over the negligees are tweed jackets with rounded shoulders, long sleeves and wide lapels and even a pair of culottes zipped at the front and back. Blouses combine sequins that look like electronic components and evening gowns had voluminous sunray pleats, trimmed with marabout. Asymmetrical jackets are worn with zip-up skirts with flat pleats that reveal silk and lace shorts beneath. Like a long necklace, the new Gabrielle bag has double straps slipped on around the head like a sweater, and bordering the neck and shoulders. Cotton voile is used for coats and dresses, with ruffled edged camellias, a full skirt is embellished with an entirely pleated camellia.


Long silk dresses added a feminine touch

The technology and motifs inspired by the digital world in the show were made softer by blouses with ruffled cuffs and long silk dresses. Silk, lace and crepe georgette were in subtle hues of powder, pale pink, candy pink, blush and peach with a contrast of midnight blue. "The idea behind that is a fluid femininity. It is not sexy lingerie, it is not agressive, it is flesh coloured and there is something poetic about this colour," Lagerfeld says. Under slips and negligees were tailored with flat or accordion pleats and shell guipure lace petticoats and pyjama trousers in silk and lace were worn as daywear. For this collection, the couturier created the delicate lingerie ~ underwear as outerwear ~ as a counterpoint to the reality of a harsher, more automated, contemporary world.

See below video for more photographs of the Chanel collection and new accessories

Finale of the collection at the Grand Palais in Paris

Home girl in contemporary, fluid version of the traditional Chanel tweed suit, with cap and long pendant

Details of the robust knit jacket and new bracelet

 Bright pink fasteners added a dash of colour to a stylish tweed trouser suit

The Chanel camellia on a navy and dark red woven top 

The finale of the SS17 collection in Paris

Pale pink lace was a counterpoint to the harder edged digital motifs 

Pearl-encrusted pendant on an embossed, long silk dress

Lacy bomber jacket and pink skirt with low-heeled shoes

New Chanel hand bag in fuchsia with gold details

Strong contrasts of boxy, tweed jacket and delicate silk

Digital inspirations for the new accessories

Flowing lines, chunky jewellery and long pendants added to the sense of freewheeling comfort

 The Eighties had a comeback with big, decorative earrings

Strong colour and black contrasts made an interesting counterpoint to the pastel pink confections of silk and lace

Black and white elegance evokes Lagerfeld's masterful capacity as a designer