A beautiful pearl with a flaw. It is perfect in its splendor, but its shape is far from rounded perfection. Baroque is flawed pearl. It is unlike everything around, but it is beautiful. At the Paris Haute Couture fashion week Karl Lagerfeld turned to Baroque and chose Grand Palais – the ideal venue for show of the house Chanel. «Le Corbusier va à Versailles» (Le Corbusier goes to Versailles) – Karl said, and we realize that the décor in the hall is reminiscent of not an oversaturated with luxury ballroom but of rather a spacious modern apartment in Paris, keeping the charm of previous eras. Pursuit of greatness and splendor, displacement of reality and illusion. Interactive flames are dancing in the fireplace, and a huge mirror hangs above the fireplace, reflecting the Chanel of the past, present and future.

Baroque style, conspicuous by architectural scale, is intertwined with abstraction and minimalism. Classic Chanel style underwent an “innovative attack.” The result is a fanciful collection. Neoprene and silk, tweed, laces, beads, feathers and sequins. Embroidered silk sandals feature a cute bow.

Miniature hats soften unnaturalness and pretentiousness of hairstyles in “punk” style. Classic tweed jacket sparkles with sequins and expensive buttons. Broad rounded standing collar adds royal elegance, while shorts flashing underneath some skirts display pioneering enthusiasm. Hence the presence of quirkiness and a tendency to excesses inherent in Baroque.

Stitching and seams are nowhere to be seen. The impression is that the clothes are not sewn but composed of perfectly matched mosaic elements into a single perfect piece. A number of white dresses are embroidered with gold and silver threads, complemented by echoing whiteness and intricacy of over shoulder bags. Bridal dress, embroidered with gold, concludes the white dresses series.

I didn’t speak about pearls in the beginning of this article for no purpose. Lagerfeld created an awesome collection destructing stereotypes, while remaining true to the classic Chanel style. Pearl will always be a pearl, and a small flaw will give it personality and even greater beauty.

Photo credits: CHANEL