Chanel Autumn/Winter 2010: Karl Lagerfeld’s Iceberg and the Climate of Fashion
Karl Lagerfeld’s Chanel Autumn/Winter 2010 ready-to-wear show transformed the Grand Palais in Paris into an Arctic landscape. Its enormous blocks of actual ice, brought into the temporary runway environment, made the collection one of the house’s most widely remembered spectacles and linked the drama of fashion to contemporary concerns about the natural world.
Photo: Monica Feudi / GoRunway.com / Vogue.
The Collection
Photo: Monica Feudi / GoRunway.com / Vogue.
The clothing drew on Chanel signatures through an exaggerated winter language. Bouclé-like textures, tweed, knits and faux fur surrounded the body, while shaggy boots and icy shades reinforced the collection’s theme. Some pieces were deliberately monumental; others translated the same wintry vocabulary into coats, dresses and ensembles that remained recognisably part of a modern Chanel wardrobe.
Photo: Michel Dufour / Getty Images / Vogue.
The Runway and Its Setting
Models walked through the meltwater that pooled around an immense fabricated ice installation. Producing and maintaining the set required extensive technical preparation and cold conditions that were as extraordinary as the clothes themselves. The spectacle made environmental imagery unavoidable, although the environmental implications of transporting such a set were also open to critical scrutiny.
Photo: Gianni Pucci / GoRunway.com / Vogue.
Historical Importance
The show belongs in the archive because it demonstrates the reach and contradictions of large-scale luxury spectacle. Lagerfeld was able to make a seasonal runway instantly recognisable around the world, while inviting questions about how fashion represents environmental crisis and what resources such representation consumes.
Photo: Patrick Kovarik / Getty Images / Vogue.
Museums and Archival References
Photo: Monica Feudi / GoRunway.com / Vogue.
Photo: Indigital.tv / Vogue.
Editorial production note: museum and archive links are provided for source verification. Their photographs, filmed collections and other rights-managed materials are not licensed for re-upload; permission review is required before adding a gallery or publishing.
Photo: Monica Feudi / GoRunway.com / Vogue.
Archive Runway Film
Photo: Monica Feudi / GoRunway.com / Vogue.
This historic film is embedded from YouTube with its publishing source identified. Archive, documentary and backstage footage are not represented as an official full-house runway recording unless documented. Embed availability is controlled by the uploader.
Image: Wallpaper*.
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