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Chanel fashion show sails into Hamburg for Lagerfeld homecoming

Chanel's veteran designer Karl Lagerfeld returned to his Hamburg roots with a playful fashion show in the German port city, inspired by his hometown's seafaring traditions and its audacious new concert house.

Published: 7 December 2017 12:04 CET

Chanel fashion show sails into Hamburg for Lagerfeld homecoming

The Chanel fashion show at the Elbphilharmonie on Wednesday. Photo: DPA.

In Wednesday evening's defile at the imposing Elbphilharmonie concert hall, models shared the stage with a live orchestra as they strutted around in bejewelled sailor caps with anchor motives and chunky fishermen sweaters.

Lovingly dubbed the “Elphie”, the building itself has a maritime feel, jutting out from the end of a pier with sweeping views of the Elbe River and a glass roof that evokes frozen waves.

The octogenarian Lagerfeld said he wanted to stage a Chanel show there from the moment he first laid eyes on the building, which was plagued by cost over-runs and delays before its opening in January.

Photo: DPA.

“I got the idea the first time I saw the Elbphilharmonie. When I saw the construction site and the plans,” he told DPA news agency backstage at the show.

“You know, Berlin is not ideal for Chanel. And I am a Hamburger after all.”

Actresses Tilda Swinton, Kristen Stewart and Lily-Rose Depp, daughter of Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis, were among the front-row guests at Lagerfeld's Hamburg debut.

Chanel selects a different city each year for its annual Metiers d'Art fashion show, which shines a spotlight on the legendary craftmanship of the French house's milliners, knitters, plumassiers and bootmakers.

The venue is usually inspired by the life of founder Coco Chanel but the focus this year was firmly on Lagerfeld, who has been at the helm of the celebrated fashion house for over 30 years.

Lagerfeld, whose exact age is shrouded in mystery, was born in Hamburg but moved to Paris as a teenager.

Known as “King Karl” in Germany, his visit was closely followed by local media.

The best-selling Bild newspaper on Wednesday provoked much mirth with a picture of Lagerfeld arriving by private jet with a pile of luxury suitcases – and a plastic bag of kitty litter for his beloved white Birman cat Choupette.

French Vogue celebrates 100 years

French Vogue celebrates 100 years. Photo: Thomas Olva/AFP

But as well as celebrating the magazine’s storied history, the exhibit comes at a time of turbulence for the publication.

Just last month, it was confirmed that its editor of 10 years, Emmanuelle Alt, was out and wouldn’t be replaced.

She was not alone.

Looking to cut costs, owner Conde Nast International has axed editors across Europe over the past year, and put international Vogue editions under the direct control of global editorial director, Anna Wintour, in New York.

New York-based Anna Wintour now has overall control of French Vogue. Photo by Christophe ARCHAMBAULT / AFP

Like much of the media industry, Vogue is struggling with tumbling sales and ad revenue in the digital era.

But the latest twist is also part of the endless push and pull between New York and Paris going back to its early days.

“The whole history of French Vogue is one of back-and-forth with Conde Nast in New York – growing more independent for a while, then being reined back in,” said Sylvie Lecallier, curator of the new exhibition, “Vogue Paris 1920-2020″, which opened this weekend after a year’s delay due to the pandemic.

The Paris edition was often the loftier, more bohemian sibling to its more hard-nosed New York version.

But it was also the hotbed in which much of 20th century style and womenhood came to be defined.

“Paris was the place to hunt out talent and content and bring it to New York,” said Lecallier.

The exhibition charts the evolution from art deco drawings of the 1920s through the erotic image-making of photographers like Helmut Newton in the 1960s and 1970s.

Its last peak was under editor Carine Roitfeld in the 2000s, who brought back a provocative Gallic identity by ridding the newsroom of foreign staff and becoming a fashion icon in her own right.

Her successor, Alt, was a quieter presence, though she still oversaw key moments including its first transgender cover star, Brazilian Valentina Sampaio, in 2017.

But internet culture has created “a perfect storm” for Vogue, says media expert Douglas McCabe of Enders Analysis.

“The first 80 years of Vogue’s life, it had the market to itself, it was the bible for fashion,” McCabe told AFP.

“But online today, there are so many other ways to get your information. Influencers, Instagram, YouTube — everyone’s a threat.”

In a world where new fashion trends can blow up around the world in seconds, it has become much harder for a monthly magazine to set the pace.

“It’s not that they can’t survive for another 100 years — but they will be differently sized,” McCabe said.

Vogue has tried to branch out into different areas, including events.

“I used to work for a magazine, and today I work for a brand,” Alt said on the eve of French Vogue’s 1,000th issue in 2019.

But the big money was always in print, and Vogue Paris sales are dropping steadily from 98,345 in 2017 to 81,962 to 2020, according to data site ACPM.

It is perhaps unsurprising that the new top job in Paris, redefined as “head of editorial content”, went to Eugenie Trochu, who was key to building the magazine’s online presence.

She declared herself “thrilled to be part of Vogue’s international transformation”.

For the curator of the exhibition, it is ironic timing.

“We had no idea it would end like this when we started work on the exhibition,” said Lecallier.

“Who knows where it will go from here.”

The exhibition Vogue Paris 1920-2020 is at the Palais Galliera in Paris’ 16th arrondissement. The gallery is open 10am to 6pm Tuesday to Sunday and is closed on Mondays. Tickets for the exhibition are €14 (€12 for concessions and under 18s go free) and must be reserved online in advance.

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