Chanel flies couture sky-high at Paris show

PARIS - Agence France-Presse

A model presents a creation by German designer Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel during the Spring/Summer 2012 Haute Couture collection show at the Grand Palais. AFP photo

Chanel flew the fashion crowd sky-high on Jan. 24, conjuring up a life-sized plane as the runway for an all-blue spring collection as it headlined day two of the Paris haute couture shows.

Stewards walked the length of the central aisle, offering champagne to Chanel’s guests as they took their seats in the model aircraft, purpose-built inside the Grand Palais exhibition hall.

“After the red carpet, the blue carpet,” the house’s silver-haired designer Karl Lagerfeld, in trademark black suit and shades, quipped to reporters.

“I love the plane,” said the globe-trotting couturier. “There’s nothing I find more relaxing. Your neighbours are stuck to their screens, there are no phones, it’s blissfully peaceful.”

Dim-lit, with “Exit” signs, images of fluffy clouds overhead and a cockpit at one end, the aircraft was carpeted with a Chanel monogram, and its seats swiveled round to offer a full view of the runway.

Lagerfeld used no fewer than 154 shades of blue for a look defined by wide, soft chimney collars, puffed sleeves, linear silhouettes and low waistlines.