The late, great, Karl Lagerfeld, who sadly passed away in February at the age of 85, will be remembered as one of the great designers of our time.
At the Chanel show in Paris back in May, models took to the runway sporting the last ever collection designed by Karl himself, against his last theatrical set.
Extravagant seasonal productions had, over the years, become Lagerfeld’s signature, and that show was no exception.
His final collection for the house was presented against a backdrop of an alpine ski resort complete with fake snow and Tyrolean lodges. Entitled Chanel in the Snow, the set drew inspiration from super rich playground and ski resort Courchevel where Chanel operates a pop-up store and sells its popular Snow collection.
Today Lagerfeld’s successor Virginie Viard debuted her first ready-to-wear collection for the brand, and while there was much excitement thanks to a runway crasher, her muted set inspired by Parisian rooftops confirmed our suspicions, that no one could create runway set magic quite like Lagerfeld.
In loving memory of fashion's number one powerhouse, we take a look back at his most jaw-dropping runway sets...
What made Karl Lagerfeld's Chanel shows so spectacular?
From recreating the iconic Eiffel Tower to 'launching' a life-size rocket ship (plus, remember the supermarket?) – Karl Lagerfeld was known for pulling out all the stops when it comes to Chanel’s show sets.
As much a spectacle as the collections themselves, the ambitious and varied ways that Lagerfeld chose to transform the Grand Palais each season became a biannual highlight of every showgoer’s season.
Staging his spring/summer 2019 womenswear show, the iconic Parisian venue was transformed to the point of being unrecognisable into a beach scene, replete with sand, ebbing waves and even lifeguards.
Models, carrying their shoes in their hands, splashed their way through the real life waves that lapped the sandy runway.
For the Cruise show back in May 2018, Lagerfeld surprised audiences with an actual cruise ship – named ‘La Pausa’ after Gabrielle Chanel’s summer house on the French Riviera – sat on the runway.
For the autumn/ winter 2018 show in March of the same year, he transformed the same space into a forest, complete with moss-covered trees and a runway scattered with leaves.
Previous seasons have seen the Grand Palais become a launch pad for Lagerfeld’s very own rocket take-off, and be transformed variously into a wind farm, a supermarket and a workshop complete with his own Chanel ateliers.
Click through our gallery to take a look back at some of Lagerfeld’s most imaginative and memorable works of architecture for Chanel.
