NADINE KAM / NKAM@ STARBULLETIN.COM
At left, a white cashmere knit top is paired with a red-and-white sequinned skirt embroidered by Lesage, and topped with a mink cap by Michel. The pink tulle camellias that grace the top at right were pieced together petal by petal by the house of Lemarié.
Chanel unveils
a collection of
celestial proportionOne hundred fashion enthusiasts were treated to the unveiling of Karl Lagerfeld's "Satellite Love" collection last Friday at the Chanel store at 2116 Kalakaua Ave., before the garments were shuttled off toward their next destination, San Francisco.
The collection was inspired by Chanel's purchase last year of five Paris couture ateliers that Lagerfeld dubbed "satellites": Lesage for embroidery, Massaro for shoes, Michel for millinery, Desrues for costume jewelry and Lemarié for feathers and camellias.
Each house collaborated on the 33-piece collection at once demure, marked by dainty pillbox hats, and aggressive. Luckily, no impressionable children were in the house as models traipsed down the "boulevard" beaming attitude, cigarettes dangling sensually between their fingertips. Makeup was sultry, with dark smoky eyes and dramatic red lips.
Romantic cashmere sweaters were paired with elaborately sequined skirts in geometric florals, then accessorized with funky grosgrain-trimmed hats that looked like a mink version of the bombardier hat.
Knit ensembles in geometric patterns were weighted with jeweled chains bearing clusters of colorful 1-inch glass beads, each hand-blown.
Pre-orders are being taken for items in the ready-to-wear collection, which comes closest to haute couture due to the labor involved in every step of creating the garments, including: stitching sequins by hand so not one is in danger of veering from its rightful place in the grand design, creating glass buttons and hammering the metal (rubber mallets only, please) that go into chain-link accessories.
Ask me not about prices as there are used cars that cost less than these pieces. This may rule out much Mother's Day gift-giving but a woman can dream, right?
By Nadine Kam
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