Chanel’s artistic director Karl Lagerfeld was noticeably missing from the spring 2019 couture show this morning at the Grand Palais in Paris. According to a statement from Chanel, Lagerfeld was feeling “tired” and had his right-hand woman Virginie Viard take her bow alone. (Viard, the studio director of Chanel, has occasionally bowed alongside Lagerfeld before.)
The show was held twice, and at the end of the second round, the announcer said, “We wish Mr. Lagerfeld to recover quickly.” Even without Karl’s physical presence, the show was pure Lagerfeldian opulence. The Grand Palais, which has previously served as a Chanel rocket ship and supermarket, became a Mediterranean villa. The models wore beehives and midi-skirt suits, pastel party dresses decked out with floral appliqués, and feathered capelets. The 18th century inspired Lagerfeld’s color palette and decadence.
It was all pretty modest, except for the finale wedding dress. It was a jeweled monokini, complete with a swimming-cap-veil hybrid — the perfect ending to a very ladies-who-lunch show.