Five Things You Only Know If You Were At Chanel's Hamburg Show

SEVERAL days after the Fashion Awards in London, the fashion crowd headed to Hamburg: the birthplace of Chanel's long-time creative director Karl Lagerfeld for the latest Métiers d'Art offering from the house. Vogue's Claudia Croft reports on the action you wont see from the pictures.

1. The Scene

1,400 guests, including Lily-Rose Depp, Kristen Stewart and Tilda Swinton sat in Hamburg's state of the art Elbphilharmonie opera house. Lagerfeld described the building as "genius, it looks like no sky scraper on earth," and considers its architects Herzog de Mueron as one of the best is world. Completed in 2016, the interior of the concert hall is clad in 10,000 honeycomb gypsum panels designed by renowned acoustician Yasuhisa Toyota, to create the best acoustics in the world. “Sparkling” is the best word to describe the pin sharp, clear sound which resonates around the room.

2. The View Was Impossibly Chic

Every guest was given a special pair of Chanel opera glasses, all the better to see the models who snaked down through the tiered auditorium from the gods to the stage.

3. The Soundtrack Was Bespoke

Five musicians from the Ensemble Resonanz played a soundtrack created by Oliver Coates. The British cellist, composer and producer, who has also worked with Massive Attack and Radiohead, conducted the musicians and played his cello.

4. The Bags Were What We Lusted After

The bags, inspired by Hamburg's maritime heritage, were a talking point. Chanel's new It-bag is The Duffel. Made from canvas trimmed with leather it is based on the totes traditionally carried by sailors. Practical, roomy and chic, this one is a keeper. Other bags were more whimsical. One boxy bag which hung from a chain strap, looked like a mini version of the colourful shipping containers that line Hamburg's docks, whilst an accordion-shaped bag looked authentic enough to play sea shanties on.

 

5. And After Karl Took His Bow...

Guests were ferried to a party and rustic supper in a dockside warehouse, its cobbled floors set with wooden tables and benches. Guests snacked on mini pots of beef stew and bitesized platters of fried fish and potato salad, whilst a choir of handsome sailors belted out traditional songs.

By Claudia Croft

Image: Getty Images