High Fashion in the Time of Recession

Posted on Dec 7, 2011

AP / Remy de la Mauviniere

German fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld, accompanied by British model Stella Tennant, acknowledges applause at the end of the runway show for his Paris-Bombay Chanel collection, presented at the Grand Palais in Paris on Tuesday.

Granted, he is the head designer at Chanel, and haute couture has never been about realism or frugality, but “Kaiser” Karl Lagerfeld might do well to drop his socioeconomic commentary to the level of a whisper breathed to like-minded luxe junkies from behind a lacy fan in Paris. 

“Kaiser” Karl let fly with some fanciful notions about the function of fashion in the midst of a recession during Tuesday’s runway show at the Grand Palais in Paris. Generous interpretation: Perhaps he was channeling the sentiments of some of his high-end clientele who may find dropping tens of thousands of euros on Chanel creations to be just the antidote to the era’s gloomy mood.  —KA

AFP via Google News:

As for the ratings agencies, the day that Standard and Poor’s warned it could downgrade 15 eurozone countries, including France, Lagerfeld quipped: “Who put them in a position to give A’s?”

Chanel created for its show the luxurious palace of an Indian maharajah as the backdrop for its “anti-gloom” ready-to-wear collection.

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