Why I think Chanel's faux protest was tasteless

Girls "protesting" during Chanel's S/S '15 show in
Paris; image source: marthafashiondiary.com

Typically during Fashion Week I would break down the newest collections and put them in context for you, but not today. Because of the way fashion media "ate up" the faux Chanel protest which took place at the Grand Palais in Paris yesterday morning without a single after-thought about its impact, I have decided to raise my voice and express what I truly think of it.

The case is simple: France's biggest and most powerful fashion brand Chanel staged a mockery of a protest at the end of its Spring/Summer 2015 show, apparently without an ulterior motive. The house's main designer Karl Lagerfeld (known for his lack of interest in politics) sent Chanel-clad models down the runway carrying signs that read all kinds of things, from feminist messages like "History is her story" and "Ladies first" to non-sense such as "Boys should get pregnant too".

All of that in order to create a mood which will complement his 70s inspired collection and at the same time make fun of protesting which seems to be a very French thing to do. What he doesn't seem to realize, though, is that protesting is a very serious (and often the only) way of making a change and shouldn't be exploited for attention.

The first problem I have with the faux protest is that it is highly insensitive and confirms the world's stereotypes that fashion people are brainless creatures who live "in their own bubble" and take every-thing as a joke. While attendees dressed in five thousand dollar tweed-jackets were recording the fauxtest with their newest iPhones to then quickly share it on social media as "THE EVENT OF THE SEASON", the citizens of Hong Kong were protesting for their democracy and the Ukrainians were pulling down a massive statue of Lenin. Pretty much the same, right?

The second problem is the feminist angle. Always looking for a way to be in vogue, magazine editors instantly recognized the opportunity of a hot topic and tweeted videos of the protest while describing it as 'feminist'. Now, let's slow down a minute. We have a large corporation whose goal is to make money out of telling women they'll be beautiful if they wear Chanel and highly-paid models who are given money to stage a march while holding pointless signs that someone else has created. Feels a little counterproductive to turn these feminism activists into puppets for your show, doesn't it?

"Tweed is better than tweet" reads one of the signs at Chanel's faux protest for S/S '15; image source: style.com

The question is, and bear in mind that Mr. Lagerfeld is a designer who likes to express sarcasm on his runways, this: When has the brand crossed the boundary called taste? Was it when it paid models to mock a protest while the rest of the world is protesting with a cause? Was it when it sent out signs that alluded to the feminist movement just to gather attention? And is the fashion media the key player that allowed this tasteless act to become mainstream? So many questions, and yet, so little answers.

For more photos of the collections go to Style.com and don't forget to follow me on Twitter!

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Haute Couture F/W '14 Trend Report: Sculpted whites

A Christian Dior gown from the F/W '14
Haute Couture collection illustrated by me

As per, the Haute Couture fashion week that took place in Paris this fall/winter season brought very few surpri-ses but a lot of memorable looks. Versace Atelier went rock-glam, Raf Simons mixed eight different eras into one show and Uncle Karl traded his luxurious sets for something more intimate.

The question is, 'What did most collections have in co-mmon?' Well, they all played around with voluminous white silhouettes.

Probably the most successful attempt at this trend was Lagerfeld's vision for Chanel. After a few stale seasons, the legendary designer found a new way to impress cli-ents by creating "molded" dresses that barely had any seams. Mostly adorned with exquisite gold embroidery, these garments seem to have already found their way into fashion history - along with those concrete beaded ones, of course.

Others had slightly different interpretations of the 'scul-pted whites' trend but still stayed on point. Simons pre-sented a modern fairy-tale that included Marie Antoi-nette-inspired dresses in shades varying from off to snow white; Donatella Versace decided to dig in the 50s for inspiration and pulled out big deconstructed ballgowns for her namesake brand; Giambattista Valli went with his forte and embroidered the white garments with three-dimensional flowers, while Maria and Pierpaolo insisted on a simplified version of the 'little white dress' for Valentino.

From left: Models from Chanel, Versace Atelier, Giambattista Valli & Valentino's F/W '14 Haute Couture collections

Best of the Best - Fall 2010

And before we start off with Spring 2011, I can't pass Fall 2011 without giving it a little recognition.

We all know how things in fashion go - a season is over, we all think there were too little fabulous shows.
6 months later, next season is about to start and we finally fall in love with many shows from the last season.
Well that's exactly what happened between me and Fall 2010.
I usually like the Spring/Summer season better, mostly because it's filled with tons of colors, fantastic light fabrics and beautifully cut dresses and shirts.
But although Fall usually falls flat with it's dark colors and brown camel coats, I found many inspiring shows in this Fall 2010 that are everything but ordinary.

Let's start the countdown!

#5 - Michael Kors



Before I start with the more unique and avantgarde shows from Fall 2010, I'd like to give recognition to the designer who I really disliked until few seasons ago. He has always been one of the tackiest designers in my eyes - but all that changed when I saw his Fall 2009 collection. Two seasons later, we've come to the Fall 2011 collection which is absolutely breathtaking. It's incredible how simplicity can create magic on the runway.
The collection had everything a woman needs in the cold winter days - from the over sized coats, to the warm wool sweaters and knee-length boots. Let's not forget the fantastic scarves, Russian inspired hats and long sequined dresses who would take your breath away - on the runway, but off it as well.

#4 - Louis Vuitton



Marc Jacobs knows a trend when he sees one - and this season was no exception. A simple deal between Marc and Miuccia turned the fashion world upside down with a simple slogan - "Let's bring the 60s back!"
Along with bringing the clothes from those times, Marc also brought something else with the collection - the supermodels. Big legends like Jessica Stam, Coco Rocha, Angela Lindvall and Elle Macpherson walked down the runway, showing off their real-woman curves in full skirts, tight bust dresses and show stopping shoes. On top of that, Marc showed us a big collection of cute Louis Vuitton monogram purses, especially designed to fit this season's theme. Smart, no?

#3 - D&G



Since Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana aren't planning on changing the theme of their Dolce&Gabbana shows anytime soon, I have to feature the brand that plays with fashion trends the most - and that is of course their more affordable brand D&G.
This Fall, the talented duo decided to take their customer for a ski ride, but definitely not on some cheap mountain - it's Aspen all the way for the woman that purchases these garments!
Designing for a sports loving 20-30 year old girl, they sent their models on the runway fully prepared for some fun in ski jumpsuits, warm over sized sweaters, maxi dresses and of course - this Fall's main trend, the fur boots.
Someone might ask - what's so special about this collection? The special is - no one goes this far when it comes to creating complete luxury for a woman other than these two leaders in the fashion world. You don't see Dolce&Gabbana crystal encrusted goggles very often, do you?

#2 - Miu Miu



I can't do a list of best shows without giving credit to one of the most talented fashion designers, maintaining her status in this industry over the years, Miuccia Prada. Since it is a rather small list, I had to choose one show from this woman - and without a doubt, my choice fell on Miu Miu.
After the incredibly interesting Spring 2010 show, Miuccia continues to stun us with more and more creativity coming out of her sleeve, this time with the Miu Miu Fall 2010 collection.
It has everything - from bold colors, usually avoided in the fall collections, to fabulously shaped mini dresses and 20s inspired shoes. Looks like Miuccia had a lot of fun creating this collection, and I am sure we all had a lot of fun watching it as well.
Pieces from the Miu Miu fall collection are being sold on Net-a-Porter, among many other online stores - go and order your favorite item right now!

#1 - Chanel



Leave it to Karl Lagerfeld to show you how it's done - and you'll definitely get the number one show of the season. Putting a huge ice block specially brought from Sweden to Paris in the middle of the Grand Palais can only mean one thing - the recession days are over!
Ending one of world's most biggest crises at the time, Karl leads us to another, scarier one - global warming. All that ice turning into water in front of the audience wasn't a coincidence - it showed us how we are slowly destroying the world by doing everything we shouldn't be.
Showing clothes that are made completely out of fake fur, he tells us we should stop killing animals at last, although many people could find that a little ironic considering the fact that he has been using real fur at the house of Fendi since the day he got hired.
However, the show carries a very strong message with it, perfectly capturing everyday life with only 77 outfits sent on the runway. Fashion can be very powerful at times, don't you think?

Credit: Fall 2010 illustrations created by me.
Body used in illustrations is based on a Versace Atelier body used in one of their sketches.