Karl Lagerfeld has a message for fashionistas: Travel in style, not sweat pants, and look pretty.
Lagerfeld presented his new cruise collection for Chanel on Wednesday in a show staged at Grand Central Terminal. A glamorous group, including Julianne Moore, Naomi Watts and Mischa Barton, packed an intimate area set up in the terminal’s main concourse.
Cocktails and cookies were served as the fashion elite hobnobbed. Curious commuters and tourists lingered outside the heavily guarded entrance as Vogue editor Anna Wintour arrived, wearing her trademark oversized sunglasses, minutes before the show was to begin.
As hard-rock music blared, models catwalked in a brisk march, like commuters speeding up to catch a train. The clothes were chic, edgy and feminine, many looks meshing classic Chanel silhouettes with a breezy rock-star sensibility. A white skirt suit had a graffiti-like pattern, featuring sequins and the Chanel logo, in splashes of sky blue and fuchsia.
Most styles were in black and white, interrupted by bright spots of color or muted neutral tones. A standout was a floor-length navy blue belted coat that resembled a sweeping ball gown. A romantic beige baby-doll dress had sleeves with vertical ribbing and fell just below the knee. It was worn with a black floppy hat with ribbon trim and sheer black gloves.
A sporty, high-collared black jacket, paired with roomy jeans, had puffed sleeves and ruffled trim. A dressier take matched denim with a boucle belted blazer worn over a Victorian-style blouse.
Other styles included a floaty white chiffon blouse with a short black skirt, blue shorts with a high-neck top and jacket, and a black-and-white swimsuit paired with a luxe cover-up.
Barton said one of her favorites was a black party dress that had a thick gold band fastened at the waist with a shiny rose.
Many of the skirts and dresses were worn with unusual footwear — flat, knee-length Grecian sandals in leather with interweaving and silver buckles.