Chanel Creative Director, Karl Lagerfeld imports the Byzantine influence into the the Chanel pre-fall pret-a porter collection for 2010/2011. The Byzantine empire was a bi-factor of the Roman Empire-- forming in the eastern region of Constantinople during the middle ages.
Image by Chanel
Image by Chanel
Lagerfeld made interlacing references between Theodora Comnena, the niece of the Byzantine Emperor, Manuel Comnenus and Coco Chanel, who was apparently keen to incorporating ancient Middle Eastern touches into garment embroideries and particularly with jewelry.
Image by Chanel
Image by Chanel
Image by Chanel
The Chanel maestro, who never seems to suffer from any sort of creative deficit disorder, took the inspiration from this era, and layered it all over what he calls: the Paris-Byzance collection.
Image by Chanel
And the result? It's a majestic collage of dark and warm colors adorned with large mosaic stones and fabrics--reiterating power and wealth--re-imagined from its primordial sovereign origins and into the modern Chanel woman of today. Have a watch at the fashion show (videos) in its entirety, which took in place in Paris last week.
