Daily Front Row

2012 January 25

Paris Couture: Chanel, Givenchy, Armani Prive

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Chanel Paris Haute Couture Spring 2012
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(PARIS) Chanel
Stow away your carry-on in the overhead compartments, and fasten your seatbelts, chéris! Karl Lagerfeld lavished 250 first-class-only eds at the Grand Palais with a bluesy couture catwalk inside a striking makeshift A380 jetliner. Pre-show, the in-air menu for Alice Dellal, Cameron Diaz, Diane Kruger, et al consisted of flutes of mango juice and bubbly—wheeled out in trolleys by decked-out flight attendants, of course. As clouds whizzed by in the windows after "takeoff," a parade of mods stomped out in a buffet of blue sixties-inspired wool crepe dresses (avec Pan Am pockets), ankle-skimming drop-waist gowns, and after dark cocktail dresses adorned with clusters of sequins and gobs of gumball beads. All aboard!

Givenchy
Riccardo Tisci enlisted the help of Stella Tennant, Natasha Poly, and Kristen McMenamy to unveil his decidedly dark Spring collection in ten, tightly-edited looks plucked straight from the roaring Art Deco era. With a nod to cult classic twenties films like Metropolis and Aelita: Queen of Mars, Tisci flirted with punk rock flappers conceived in chocolate croc dresses that logged over 300 hours each in the atelier, painstakingly collaged cropped jackets, and embellished gowns covered in over a million teeny tiny beads. The unexpected pièce de résistance? Swarovski-studded palazzo pants paired with Tisci's version of a slouchy embroidered tee. 

Armani Prive
Giorgio Armani's latest couture collection exhibited some serious bite---snake bites, in particular. Armani had Franz Kafka's "The Metamorphosis" on the mind beginning with a lineup of twisted pencil skirts or iridescent slim trousers on bottom and fitted peplum blazers on top, laced with a reptilian-like mesh. As the show unfolded, demure daywear turned into acid green eco capes, silvery fishtails, and chartreuse sci-fi gowns with futuristic spiral headgear by Philip Treacy. Front row devotee Jessica Chastain, who gushed about the greenery backstage, garnered almost as much attention as Mr. Armani himself for her well-deserved Oscar nomination announced just minutes before the show.