Miss Stylologist: Chanel Haute Couture Fall 2007

Not until I read Sarah Mower's runway review on style.com did I appreciate Karl Lagerfeld's presentation for the fall 2007 Chanel couture show. If I revert back to before I read the review, I was extremely unimpressed with the collection. Nothing stood out, not even one piece, as exhilarating, and usually a Chanel show would excite me so. The over-the-knee leather boot leggings have been done and are nothing new; the flat futuristic coats were just that, flat; the color palette of hunter green and burnt rum were not flattering, and the evening wear was, for my tastes a little too old fashioned.

However, after reading the review, I now think the show was quite brilliant. I do not disclaim my previous comments as I do still think the same, but now that I now the entire show was based on a "sideways view" I think that Mr. Lagerfeld is way ahead of the game, and while Galliano is an outright genius, I think Lagerfeld is a veiled behind-the-scenes genius that created this 67-look show showing us how volume would appear when looked at horizontally then turned vertically. A new approach, indeed.

"...looked at Chanel from one angle—sideways-on—and turned that technical exercise into a show that focused all the imaginative, structural, and decorative skills of haute couture into one idea: tracing the body line from shoulder to ankle. "High profile," he called it. "Everything is flat at the front. It’s all side effects." - Sarah Mower, style.com