FASHION ICON KARL LAGERFELD HAS DIED IN PARIS - CHANEL

Iconic designer Karl Lagerfeld has died in Paris at the age of 85. He had been creative director of French couture company Chanel for 35 years.

Social-media tributes to Lagerfeld.

The news was first reported on Feb. 19 by French media, quoting Chanel, and this sparked an outpouring of tributes on Twitter and in the international press. The New York Times called Lagerfeld the “most prolific designer of the 20^TH and 21^st centuries” and said that his career formed the “prototype of the modern fashion industry”.

The Guardian newspaper meanwhile pointed out that Lagerfeld’s personal style had become “as famous as his designs, confirming his status as a cultural icon”. This style included his “ice-white ponytail”, ever-present sunglasses, black leather gloves … and “black tailored suits”.

German-born Lagerfeld had also been creative director of Fendi and headed his own eponymous label. He was known for his demanding work ethic – as well as a range of controversial comments. Reports said he had been ill for several weeks, and fashion observers noted that he had not appeared at Chanel’s runway show in January, during Paris Couture Week. He had been slated, however, to attend preparations for the Chanel womenswear show scheduled for March 5 in the French capital.

The city's mayor, Anne Hidalgo, issued a statement saying: "Karl Lagerfeld was a genius. At Chanel, he invented and reinvented with passion, exigence, excellence. His art gave colour and form to love, refinement, awe and wonder. More than an incarnation of Paris, Karl Lagerfeld was Paris."

Read the New York Times obituary:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/19/obituaries/karl-lagerfeld-dead.html

PARIS COUTURE: XUAN PUTS THE COLOUR BACK INTO BLACK

The dresses and ensembles were all black, set on stands amidst steam rising from the floor. The setting, in a Lexus showroom in Paris, evoked the past as well as the future – old-world elegance and modernity, with a Gothic wind blowing through

Xuan stands amid her designs.

“I started out thinking of colour,” said Vietnamese-Dutch designer Xuan-Thu Nguyen, her petite frame in a long white blouse among the dark dresses. “But then everything became black.”

Still, black doesn’t necessarily mean the absence of colour, she emphasized. “When you’re fully dressed in black, you see more clearly all the colour around you. So, black attracts colour, in fact."

Her Spring / Summer 2019 Couture collection was noted for its “wearability”, but one would be wrong to assume tameness in this case. All the gowns and dresses signalled a kind of daring beyond the sophistication, with distinct shapes, lines and texture. The use of  mesh sleeves, folds of fabric and cinched waistlines contributed to the impudent stylishness.

Xuan’s design house is based in Paris, with production in France and the Netherlands, and through the clothes, one can feel the blending of cultures, the boldness of standing out. Here, black leads the pack of all hues. - Tasshon