BY THE SEAChanel’s Dream: diaphanous and idyllic

Chanel transformed the Grand Palais into a dream beach. An idyllic setting complete with sand, azure sky and sea. A parasol print on chiffon, multi-coloured plumetis sprinkled over tweed, and embroideries of sand and seashells: the atmosphere is joyful. New volumes: jackets have wide shoulders and flared sleeves, responding to skirts slit up the side and opening over mini-skirts, or unzipped, oversize trousers. Jumpsuits with XL legs contrast sharply with outfits of short jackets and little tweed dresses. Men’s jackets are coupled with strapless cycling shorts or leggings. Vest dresses step out in white tweed swathed in stripes or embroidered with sequinned parasols, and in a sandy-hued tweed dotted with sequins. Others are knotted like towels around the chest and held up with seashell necklace straps. There’s a diaphanous fluidity on long chiffon dresses printed with two-tone parasols and on a lace outfit. Resembling trails of sand, an embroidery of golden sequins sketches out delicate grooves on a pearlised white tweed suit, and on dresses in navy crêpe georgette.
Karl Lagerfeld has fun appropriating the cabin dresses: now ‘robes cabanes’ they come in a multicolour plumetis pink tweed and lace ruffles. For evening they reappear adorned with an origami of chiffon ribbons. The designer explodes a kaleidoscope of sequinned parasols over a strapless dress and a scintillation of sequinned palm trees over a cage dress in black chiffon.