Chanel Cruise Collection SS13

18 May Fashion, Fashion Week, Style Inspiration

We always think it’s handy that Cruise collections come give you a glimpse of next year’s trends, helping you get more mileage from this year’s shopping picks. So thank you Chanel for letting us shop pastels, lace and lady-like shapes in confidence, knowing that we’ll be wearing them next Spring too.

The catwalk was the opulent gardens of the Palace of Versailles and the models crunched on the gravel in pastel confections that were oh-so-Chanel. Quilting, tweeds, structured dresses with fun takes on 17^th Century sartorial favourites with LOTS of ruffles were the big fashion stories…but with a little punky twist, which reminded me of the TV show Casanova, while the pastel wigs and beauty spots were unmistakable Marie Antoinette. As most of Europe is pretty near broke, but the clothes are as OTT as you can get (in a typical Chanel fashion without having to cover everything in gold!) it added another dimension to the 17^th Century theme!

Surely the exaggerated shape of culottes, peplums, and platform pumps (again) will be reimagined in a less theatrical way for the high street. As Monsieur Lagerfeld put it, this collection is all about ‘serious frivolity’. How refreshing!