Chanel Ready-to-wear Collection

Chanel is a privately held French company founded in 1909 by Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel, a former milliner. The Chanel ready-to-wear collection is showcased biannually for spring-summer and autumn-winter seasons during Paris Fashion Week to an audience of media, retailers, buyers, investors, and customers, under the auspices of the Chambre Syndicale du Prêt-à-Porter des Couturiers et des Créateurs de Mode, which is one of three trade associations affiliated with the Fédération française de la couture, du prêt-à-porter des couturiers et des créateurs de mode. The House of Chanel is known for liberating women from the corset in the early 20th century and designing fluid, jersey pieces, most notably the little black dress. The little black dress was created to showcase the elegance and body silhouette. It was created in 1926 and debuted by Coco Chanel. Due to the shortages on fabric and materials because of the Great Depression the little black dress became a staple in every women’s closet because of how easy it was to save money and not break the bank to look great! Chanel died in 1971, Karl Lagerfeld served as Creative Director from 1983 until his death in 2019. Virginie Viard, Karl Lagerfeld's longtime collaborator for more than three decades, succeeded him as Creative Director. Viard has a background in costume design and presented her first solo collection in May 2019 for Chanel's Cruise 2020 Collection.

Chanel Ready-to-Wear Spring 2012 Runway Show

The Chanel Ready-to-Wear Spring 2012 Runway Show was presented on October 4, 2011 at the Grand Palais in Paris. With a massive seascape production, which Vogue described as spectacular and risk-taking, Creative Director Karl Lagerfeld unveiled 84 new looks with unconstructed jackets, cutaway backs, ostrich feather skirts, and sequined dresses in a lighter, iridescent palette of whites, creams, nudes, and metallics that shifted to pinks, corals, and blacks.

For a sportier element, Lagerfeld added drawstring waists and bomber jackets. The collection featured a variety of fabrics ranging from tweed, organza, lace, chiffon and lamé to knit, silk, and leather. With a slight 1920s influence, design details included drop-waists, pearl belts, seaweed panniers, boxy tweed jackets, and ruffles that mimicked sea sponges. There were also aquatic-themed accessories with handbags, shoes, and jewelry shaped as seashells, conch shells, and coral.

The production included stylized, oversized installations of giant sea life sculptures: stingray, sea horse, shark, anemone, and coral branches in a variety of matte, glossy, and sparkly finishes.

Florence Welch provided the soundtrack with a live performance of "What the Water Gave Me." Saskia de Brauw opened the runway show. Freja Beha Erichsen, Arizona Muse, Karlie Kloss, Tao Okamoto, Heidi Mount, Fei Fei Sun, Lindsey Wixson, Miranda Kerr, Joan Smalls, Candice Swanepoel, and Liu Wen were amongst the models who also walked the show. Stella Tennant closed the presentation. Uma Thurman, Anna Dello Russo, Alexa Chung, Jared Leto, Vanessa Traina, Ines de la Fressange, Sean Lennon, and Carine Roitfeld attended the show and were photographed on the front row.

Fashion Critic Tim Blanks described the runway presentation as "a magical underwater environment." Following the October 4, 2011 presentation, Blanks asked Lagerfeld at what point did the theme of the undersea world assert itself on the collection. Lagerfeld replied, "Nothing is more modern than the shapes in the ground of the sea who have billions of years. The sea is the same all over the world; so it's a manualization in a very modern, graphic way—and where pollution hadn't reached yet."

Blanks noted the paradoxical metaphor of creating something very modern out of something very old. "I'm happy you say that," noted Lagerfeld. "In fact, the oldest things are the most modern in a way."

Chanel Ready-to-Wear Fall 2012 Runway Show

The Chanel Ready-to-Wear Fall 2012 Runway Show was presented on March 5, 2012 at the Grand Palais in Paris. Vogue Runway described the runway set as the Fortress of Solitude. Karl Lagerfeld transitioned from the depths of the ocean to the center of the Earth with 68 new looks.

The presentation's featured silhouette focused on a three-piece ensemble of jacket, shirt, and pants. The collection's dichotic inspiration sources were mineralogical and cubist. Embroidered crystals along the hemlines and cuffs referenced the former influence, while color-blocking and the angularity of the design details evoked the latter. Even the models' eyebrows were embellished by the couture embroidery house, Maison Lesage.

Vogue UK descricribed the collections as a feast of color and texture with a feel of sorcery; this season's palette included petrol green, purple, emerald, amethyst, and sapphire. Michel Gaubert provided the runway soundtrack. Kati Nescher opened the runway show. Stella Tennant, Caroline Brasch Nielsen, Karmen Pedaru, Cara Delevingne, Edie Campbell, Lily Donaldson, Magdalena Frackowiak, and Bette Franke were amongst the models who also walked the show. Maria Bradley closed the presentation.Alicia Keys, Katy Perry, Poppy Delevingne, Miroslava Duma, Bryan Grey-Yamboo, Virginie Mouzat, Yao Chen, and Laura Neiva, attended the show and were photographed on the front row.

Tim Blanks described the pieces as new, seductive, yet wearable. Vogue Italia Editor in Chief, Franca Sozzani remarked of the collection, "It's so different from anyone, because it makes you feel like you're dreaming, but at the same time, you know that you could wear." When characterizing the runway design to Blanks, Lagerfeld said, "What is more modern? This looks like a city of skyscrapers that has exploded, in a way—so I think, nature is not such a bad designer, no? And the other inspiration in terms of cuts and shapes and embroideries is Czech cubism. I thought it was an interesting expression."

Chanel Ready-to-Wear Spring 2013 Runway Show

The Chanel Ready-to-Wear Spring 2013 Runway Show was presented on October 1, 2012 at the Grand Palais in Paris. Vogue Runway described the set as having an architectural modernism. With an installation of 13 oversized wind turbines and solar panels across the length of the catwalk signifying a message of sustainable energy, Lagerfeld unveiled 80 new looks. The set was designed to underscore the collection's theme of ease and serenity.

This season's featured silhouette statements were boleros and A-line skirts, dresses, and jackets. The creative director used three-dimensional chiffon cut-outs to create more lightness, volume, and movement. He eschewed his typical use of braids, buttons, and chains in favor of a more liberal placement of pearl embellishments for a look that he described to WWD as fresh and light, with different proportions and volumes. Lagerfeld, who is approaching his 30th anniversary as Creative Director of Chanel, continues to modernize the house, without reinventing its core aesthetic. This season, he showed cropped jackets, cocoon shapes, trapeze cuts, bell sleeves, wide-cut jackets, skirt-dresses, embroidered flowers, and organza pinwheels.

Kati Nescher opened the runway show. Yumi Lambert, Lily McMenamy, MacKenzie Drazan, Stella Tennant, Jacquelyn Jablonski, Iselin Steiro, Lindsey Wixson, Montana Cox, Kaitlin Aas, Aymeline Valade, and Cara Delevingne were amongst the models who also walked the show. Marte Mei van Haaster closed the presentation. Jennifer Lopez, Lou Doillon, Caroline de Maigret, Caroline Sieber, Chiara Clemente, Laetitia Casta, Mario Testino, Erin Wasson, Giovanna Battaglia, and Carine Roitfeld, attended the show and were photographed on the front row.

"No braids, no classic channel buttons, no chains—just pearls, pearls, and pearls, and that's all," as Lagerfeld described his new collection to Style.com's Blanks. "It's all about volume and lightness, because normally volume and lightness don't go together. Everything is airy."

When asked if this was the biggest thing he'd ever done, in terms of the production scale, the designer responded, "I don't judge my things in terms of size. Energy is the most important thing in life. The rest comes later."

Chanel Ready-to-Wear Fall 2013 Runway Show

The Chanel Ready-to-Wear Fall 2013 Runway Show was presented on March 4, 2013 at the Grand Palais in Paris. The House of Chanel marked its centennial anniversary with a production designed to celebrate the brand's market strength. An illuminated oversized globe spun in the center of the venue, with at least 300 pinned branded flags, one for every Chanel boutique, as the creative director ushered out 80 new looks to the soundtrack of Daft Punk's "Around the World."

The collection featured loose, bulky jackets, A-shapes, dropped-torsos, asymmetric hems, and statement sleeves. Fabrications included tweed, quilted silk, boucle wool, cashmere, chiffon. This season's palette featured black, white, teal, red, and grey. The darker collection was offset by glittering tweeds and woven metallics.

Ashleigh Good opened and closed the runway show. Xiao Wen Ju, Marine Deleeuw, Iris van Berne, Josephine Le Tutour, Nadja Bender, Daphne Groeneveld, Meghan Collison, Shu Pei Qin, and Louise Parker were amongst the models who also walked the show.

Jessica Chastain, Princess Caroline of Hanover, Mario Testino, Patrick Demarchelier, Inès de la Fressange, Caroline Sieber, Amber Kuo, Frank Ocean, Vanessa Paradis, and Yi Zhou attended the show.

Actress and model Milla Jovovich said of the collection, "I love how he really brought in a lot of the essence of Coco Chanel into this collection, whether it was some of those more billowy coats—that was just so quintessentially Coco. I love how he is always able to take history and meld it with the future in the most beautiful, sensible way."

As told to Style.com, Lagerfeld noted of his collection, "It was dark, but I don't think it was sad. It's not easy to run around in pink all day. It's a very cosmopolitan, international look. It's a global look women can wear all over the world… An interesting thing is that today it's not that Europe, as big as the amount of shops, it's the rest of the world, it's the new world. And that's very interesting, because French luxury industry survives doing so well because there are all of those new fortunes in a new part of the world. And this is something I wanted to show too, that they see all the flags there in this new world… It's globalization, a fashion globalization."

Chanel Ready-to-Wear Spring 2014 Runway Show

The Chanel Ready-to-Wear Spring 2014 Runway Show was presented on September 30, 2013 at the Grand Palais in Paris. This season, Lagerfeld staged an art exhibit reminiscent of Andy Warhol, the designer referenced Pop Art for a Pop Fashion collection, ushering out 89 new looks. The Grand Palais was transformed into a huge gallery of paintings and sculptures. The pieces included iconic Chanel symbols such camellias, pearls, and a bottle of No.5.

Ensembles included shrunken sweaters, leather pants, flared skirts, and voluminous tweed jackets. Accessories varied from graffiti-style backpacks, canvas shoppers with bead appliqué, metallic leather mini purses, and logo-emblazoned plexiglass bags. This season's palette varied from white and black to pink and purple. As explained to WWD, Lagerfeld noted that the show's concept began several months ahead of the collection as satire and the idea that people overact to art today. The designer created an art installation of 75 pieces as a backdrop to his presentation.

Cara Delevingne opened runway show. Devon Windsor, Ming Xi, Ieva Laguna, Grace Hartzel, Holly Rose Emery, Grace Mahary, and Josephine Skriver were amongst the models who also walked the show. Lindsey Wixson closed the presentation. Katy Perry, Rita Ora, Kate Upton, Virginie Ledoyen, Vanessa Paradis, Lou Doillon, Inès de la Fressange, Zoë Kravitz, Alma Jodorowsky, Caroline Sieber, Stacy Martin, Stacy Keibler, Yi Zhou, and Chrystèle Saint Louis Augustin attended the show.

When asked about the art installation, Lagerfeld replied, "I designed it. I made small models, and then they make it bigger. Yes, I made everything. It's not different young artists; only one old artist—it's me… And I think it was right for today, no? Because life is not a red carpet. This is for daily life; that was the idea in fact."

Chanel Ready-to-Wear Fall 2014 Runway Show

The Chanel Ready-to-Wear Fall 2014 Runway Show was presented on March 3, 2014 at the Grand Palais in Paris. This season, Lagerfeld's team transformed the Grand Palais into a 139,930-square-foot supermarket labyrinth, one that took each model 4.5 minutes to traverse. Monikered by Elle as the world's most luxurious and chicest supermarket, the Chanel Shopping Center was stocked with Chanel-branded merchandise, everything from doormats, paint pots, and chainsaws to Pringles, Coco Pops, and bath salts— even the guests' seats were fashioned out of cardboard boxes.

Remixes of Lady Gaga and Rihanna provided the runway soundtrack. A closing announcement created a bit of a fashion stampede, when the frenzied audience ran towards the runway clamoring for giveaways, "The shopping centre will be closing shortly, please help yourself to the complimentary fruit and veg and please come again."

The season's silhouette was anchored by hourglass shapes and strong shoulders. Most outfits were layered over leggings. Corseted waistlines and knee-length skirts were paired with trapeze coats. Fabrications included tweed, cashmere, jersey, knitwear, silk, leather, and chiffon. The multi-hued palette varied from pink, orange, yellow, and green, to burgundy purple, grey, and black. Featured accessories ranged from padlock necklaces and quilted headphones to sneakers and sneaker boots. With a sportier vibe, the show's setting made a commentary on everyday consumerism.

Interviewed post-show, Rihanna said, "I think the show was fun. It was young… I loved the silhouettes. I really, really loved the layering, the colors, the tweed—I wanted so many pieces right away… Everything was brilliant. I think was very me. I feel like I could wear everything in the collection."

"We saw the punk girl. I think I saw the sophisticated, the very young teenagers—they were all there, it feels like a brand that you can wear throughout any age," noted Alicia Vikander.

"I think that's one of the most extraordinary things about Karl," added Keira Knightley, "For however long he's been doing this, he continues to reinvent and continues to be forward-thinking, and always about the present and the future."

Cara Delevingne opened runway show, which featured 78 looks. Lindsey Wixson, Julia Nobis, Binx Walton, Kati Nescher, Malaika Firth, Stella Tennant, Pauline Hoarau, Lexi Boling, Anna Ewers, Kendall Jenner, Fei Fei Sun, and Marine Deleeuw were amongst the models who also walked the show. Nastya Sten closed the presentation. Keira Knightley, Rihanna, Melanie Griffith, Stella Banderas, Marianne Faithfull, Clémence Poésy, Alicia Vikander, Caroline de Maigret, Baptiste Giabiconi, Laura Neiva, Elisa Sednaoui, Alma Jodorowsky, Alice Dellal, Tao Okamoto, Yi Zhou, Bae Donna, and Rebecca Wang attended the show.

Chanel Ready-to-Wear Spring 2015 Runway Show

The Chanel Ready-to-Wear Spring 2015 Runway Show was presented on September 30, 2014 at the Grand Palais in Paris. The production was a 130-meter-long catwalk set as Boulevard Chanel staging a fashion protest. Lagerfeld's team recreated an urban cityscape with building facades, wrought-iron terraces, pavements, and puddles. This season's underlying theme was female empowerment. This was a collection about individuality and self-expression, which is why there were so many mix and match pieces.

This feminine fashion expressionism was that women should be able to dress exactly how they want. The silhouettes included everything from double-breasted suits, utility field jackets, and flared trousers to polo shirts with jogging pants, box-pleated skirts, and evening gowns. This season's fabrications were knits, silk, lace, chiffon, tweed, and leather.

Some of the finale protest signs read, "Tweed is Better Than tweet," "Be Your Own Stylist," "Make Fashion not War," "Free Freedom," "Ladies First"

"Women's Rights Are More Than Alright," and "History is Her Story." Chaka Khan's "I'm Every Woman" provided the runway soundtrack.

Cara Delevingne opened the runway show, which featured 86 looks, with a megaphone in hand. Melina Gesto, Josephine Le Tutour, Sanne Vloet, Charlotte Free, Daphne Groeneveld, Georgia May Jagger, Sam Rollinson, Lexi Boling, Zlata Mangafic, Valery Kaufman, Taylor Hill, Gigi Hadid, Kendall Jenner, Joan Smalls, and Gisele Bündchen were amongst the models who also walked the show. Lindsey Wixson closed the presentation, culminating in a feminist march protest. Anna Mouglalis, Baz Luhrmann, Catherine Martin, Julie Delpy, Alma Jodorowsky, Elisa Sednaoui, Laura Neiva, Alexa Chung, Louise Grinberg, Caroline Sieber, Anna Linhartová, Claire Berest, Anne Berest, Yi Zhou, Razane Jammal, and Kris Jenner attended the show.

As told to Tim Blanks of Style.com, Lagerfeld noted, "I like the idea to show the clothes in the street, girls walking like as if they were walking in the street. And also, there are all kinds of pieces; everybody can use, play with. It's not professional… There are no 70s, no 60s—it's more of a Mod de Viv than mod."

W Magazine's Editor-in-Chief Stefano Tonchi said of the presentation, "Karl is such a great social commentator. It's true that fashion is supposed to be the mirror of society, but he really put the mirror on our faces and he reflects the feeling and the mood and the ideas that people have in their mind.

Chanel Ready-to-Wear Fall 2015 Runway Show

The Chanel Ready-to-Wear Fall 2015 Runway Show was presented on March 10, 2015 at the Grand Palais in Paris. Titled the "French Collection," this season the Grand Palais was transformed into Brasserie Gabrielle, a Left Bank cafe, with polished wood, leather, brass, and an oval bar. Ensembles focused on layering separates: blouses, cardigans, sweater gowns, oversized anoraks, leather joggers, lace leggings, pencil skirts, tweed suits, cap-toe slingbacks, origami quilted puff coats, and sheer cocktail dresses. The production included waiters and baristas serving coffee and croissants. During the presentation, models entered through a revolving door before sitting in the banquettes.

Cara Delevingne opened and closed the runway show, which featured 98 looks. Mica Arganaraz, Kendall Jenner, Joan Smalls, Grace Mahary, Sasha Luss, Taylor Hill, and Lily Donaldson were amongst the models who also walked the show. Stella Tennant, Florence Welch, Inès de la Fressange, Carmen Kass, Patrick Demarchelier, Alma Jodorowsky, and Marie-Ange Casta attended the show.

Style.com described the runway show as Lagerfeld's love letter to Paris, "This was for the attitude, for the femininity, for the spirit of Chanel, for a kind of renewed sexiness from another age, to make it more modern," the designer explained to Tim Blanks post-show.

"The message of Chanel that evolved in something bigger, more futuristic, which I thought was interesting," noted Caroline de Maigret. "What I'm always amazed in Karl's work for Chanel is the relationship he has with France. Last time we had the demonstration in the streets that belonged to us. Now we have the French brasserie, and it moves me in a way. It's like my cultural roots that come out."

"The whole brasserie side was lovely because it is like being at my corner cafe and the feeling of being very French… And there were loads of tweeds and silhouettes that reminded me of France, reminded me of the 1960s in France and this whole culture of cafes at the time." said Lou Doillon.

"I'm a stranger so I have a distorted view on French life, because you know I'm a little tired also of people saying 'Oh France isn't good anymore.' Even the French, the famous French-bashing—so I wanted to show that are few things are not that bad and typically French, and they should enjoy what they have," Lagerfeld added. "The minute I finish one, I have to think about the next one, eh? That's why so many designers think the speed is too big and I don't think so. It's a nonstop dialogue, and if you are not ready to have a nonstop dialogue with fashion, you should do another job."

Chanel Ready-to-Wear Spring 2016 Runway Show

The Chanel Ready-to-Wear Spring 2016 Runway Show was presented on October 6, 2015 at the Grand Palais in Paris. This season the venue was transformed into an airport terminal with double C luggage carts and airline staff. The Chanel Airlines Terminal included a departures board highlighting destinations for upcoming events in Shanghai, Salzburg, New York, London, and Rome.

Ensembles included tweed suits, pencil skirt, dropped shoulder jackets, and knitted skirts. Accessories this season varied from quilted carry-on bags and velcro sandals to driving gloves and aviator sunglasses. This season's palette featured white, black, silver, pink, and powder blue. Fabrications ranged from wool, leather, denim, lurex, and PVC to sequins, crystals, silk, chiffon, and tulle.

Edie Campbell opened the presentation, which featured 95 looks. Lexi Boling, Lauren de Graaf, Josephine Le Tutour, Greta Varlese, Lineisy Montero, Chiara Scelsi, and Kendall Jenner were amongst the models who also walked the show. Mica Arganaraz closed the runway show.

Janelle Monáe, Vanessa Paradis, Jean-Paul Goude, Lily-Rose Depp, Cara Delevingne, Giovanna Battaglia, Liu Wen, Maria Sharapova, Lewis Hamilton, Inès de la Fressange, Marine Vacth, Virginie Ledoyen, Clotilde Hesme, and Céline Sallette attended the show.

Lagerfeld told Style.com post-show, "Getting to the skies, you have to go through an airport… So I wanted to make the perfect airport, where boarding is a pleasure and not a nightmare, like it is now."

"This airport was like we needed more Utopian than real things; we wanted to avoid security alerts, missed luggage, all that kind of stuff. So, it was more like a happy airport," observed Michel Gaubert.

"We're flying high class and it was beautiful," said Audrey Marnay

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