Chanel goes understated in final day of Paris Fashion Week

PARIS (AP) — An understated collection awaited the VIP guests who attended Chanel’s show on the final day of Paris Fashion Week. Kristen Stewart and Diane Kruger were among those who arrived at the Grand Palais Ephemere for one of the day’s biggest events, while some eyes looked forward to Miu Miu and Louis Vuitton later in the program.

For spring, the Parisian stalwart’s designer, Virginie Viard, gently riffed on the 1980s in an overall simple collection doused in black and white and which seemed like it had nothing to prove.

Irina Shayk on the Chanel catwalk. Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP

Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP

Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP

Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP

There were some minor thrills.

A-line minis led the eyes down to flashes of tease — like banded white-lattice thigh high socks. Model Irina Shayk looked ravishing in a shoulder-less, capped-sleeve marbled gown with ruffled tiering.

Moments such as a polka dot leather dress with a stiff rippled peplum provided the historic musing for the age-old house founded in 1910, borrowing from turn-of-the-(last)-century styles.

But it was all very subtly delivered by the French designer, who took over from the exuberant Karl Lagerfeld following his death in 2019. The beating heart of this display was understatement. The decor’s black and white images spanning the ages, including empty historic gardens, may not have helped the mood — but the 71-look collection felt lacking in energy at times.

Still, accessories provided welcome shots of vibrancy. Bejeweled clasps, swinging pearl and jewel pendants and cascading gold necklaces gave pared-down looks in black and white an on-trend ’80s feel.