Chanel Resort 2013 Collection

Posted on May 15, 2012 in Fashion

Karl Lagerfeld presented the 2013 Chanel resort collection at Versailles and, taking his inspiration from the paintings of Antoine Watteau, gave it a sort of “Marie Antoinette, rocker chick” vibe. Uncle Karl brought a lot of crazy to the looks this time around, but we actually like quite a few of the original pieces (when you mentally break them down); the florals and rococo silhouettes, the colors. And even though it’s all a little nutty, we really dig the overall 18th-Century-France-through-a-kaleidoscope feel. Chanel isn’t a brand that can always do whimsy well, but this is right up its alley, so to speak.

[Photo Credit: firstVIEW]

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HM3

Regarding the dude with the watering can (5th row from top): I don’t understand how any of those pieces fit into the collection. 18th-Century-Gardner-Chic?
- Julian Betkowski
  
  Maybe not in black, but the length of the pants and the shape of the vest does reference menswear of the time.
- StellaZafella
  
  Lady Chatterly’s Lover? Mme Bouvarie’s boudoir boy?
  Drop the can, kid, I’ve got some loverly Peonies for you to sniff…
AuntieAnonny

This’ll have people’s heads rolling.

I’m sorry, I’ll leave.
http://twitter.com/GuidosDaddy Jason M. Galloway

Pretty costumes for Marie Antoinette in Wonderland as directed by Baz Luhrmann. Menswear is ridic.
Jecca2244

i can see this doing well when you pull the pieces apart. and so much of this will be custom for clients and literally made to fit them. I’d be super curious to see what aspect of Chanel brings in the most money. The bags?
- ringthing
  
  I’m thinking fragrance and cosmetics.
- http://profiles.google.com/denise.alden Denise Alden
  
  My guess is cosmetics/perfume: affordable to the unwashed masses and size-free for the chunky monkeys (like me!). I know: I’m bitter.
- http://pulse.yahoo.com/_2P2ANLRZ6YAVGONA36I2AQJYGI VicD
  
  There is nothing wearable here. Lol “fragrance and cosmetics!”
- BayTampaBay
  
  No. 5 and sunglasses.
  
  I have a friend who works for Chanel at Neimans.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=810765636 Melba Searcy

These remind me of the Japanese “Lolita” look. They all look like the stepped right off the streets of Shibuya… wigs and all.
- http://desilluist.tumblr.com/ Briarnoir
  
  No kidding, right? The bubble gum wigs and chunky sneakers aren’t helping it — but this is totally Marie on Cocaine in France by way of Japan with a colonial twist. That said, I completely love it and it is a deliciously insane resort collection.
- http://desilluist.tumblr.com/ Briarnoir
  
  No kidding, right? The bubble gum wigs and chunky sneakers aren’t helping it — but this is totally Marie on Cocaine in France by way of Japan with a colonial twist. That said, I completely love it and it is a deliciously insane resort collection.
- joe_tey83
  
  Definitely. Very Japanese science-fantasy-medieval anime.
- giiiirrrr
  
  Ha! Shibuya-ready but not Lolita-sexy. I guess they could be styled sexier. I mean they couldn’t be styled *un* sexier.
  - Verascity
    
    Lolita isn’t a sexy thing in Japan, though.
  - Kimmu
    
    Lolita fashion is actually purposely unsexy. It’s about removing any sort of adult sexuality from the people who wear it.
Jennifer L.

I’m guessing all sorts of starlets will wear the shortened ball gown ones in the 2nd row from the bottom. Emma Watson? Michelle Williams?
- Amy Ellinger
  
  Zoe Saldana could rock several of those.
- Libby Rhoman
  
  The only person I can see wearing any of this (and I hope she does) is Chloe Sevigney.
BrooklynBomber

Oh, damn, I love a lot of this. (And, no, I do not want to see Katy Perry, Kristen Stewart, Nicki Minaj, or purple-haired Kelly Osbourne in any of it.)
- judith traherne
  
  LIKE x 100
- judith traherne
  
  LIKE x 100
http://twitter.com/foodycatAlicia foodycatAlicia

I wish they’d all get out of the way and let me look at the pretty garden.
Saucysusan

The last dress on the right..take off that overskirt & you have a kinda cute shift..although I do sorta see a face looking at me in the print but that may just mean I need to get my meds “tweaked “. The rest..18th century rocker/Goth/twee (unchic that can be worn by whom? Oh yeah..celebrities.
Lina_bee

Huh. I guess there are a few pieces here that are begging to be used as separates, and it all does feel very, very French. For better or worse.
http://aldonsusi.blogspot.com/ Susi R

Glad to see those platform sneakers that I wore in the 8th grade are back in style. lol
SpcilK

Uncle Karl and his collection are on CRACK, so sayeth the commoners.
hughman

CALLING ADAM ANT!
judith traherne

Hip panniers, oh yea
- http://twitter.com/bredalot Bridget Smith
  
  I SO want a sundress with panniers. I don’t know if I would ever, ever wear it, because what sort of occasion even goes with that? But still!
  - girliecue
    
    I’ve got a soft spot for panniers too. They’re so delightfully ridiculous it would be fun to wear them. If I had a sundress with panniers I’d throw a garden party just so I could wear the dress.
- Aurumgirl
  
  Hip panniers on shorts. Those’ll be a hit.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=12801074 Brett Hulst

denim culottes?
joything

I want the men’s jackets – and that pants outfit with the diamond-pattern detail. Otherwise, pffffffftttttthhhh.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Karen-Stephens-Bassett/1503492602 Karen Stephens Bassett

How many male models did you count?
- http://profile.yahoo.com/W7A5N4G7FDTV5U2KOHBVSB55XI Basket
  
  Lots and lots in frocks.
- Spicytomato1
  
  As I scrolled through the genders started to blur for me a little bit.
Imasewsure

Yes just ship the whole collection to Nicky Minaj and get it over with… she can probably force her handlers to wear all of the crazy mens wear junk as well… fun but no….
Imasewsure

Yes just ship the whole collection to Nicky Minaj and get it over with… she can probably force her handlers to wear all of the crazy mens wear junk as well… fun but no….
gdougs

Those shoes should be burned. All of them. NOW.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_KFD4YODYT6N2NNTE7ZAHJWQXCM Deirdre

Please God, don’t let panniers become a trend D:
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=517890557 Willis Cramer Kliefoth

OMG, I just posted that first look to my interest fashion board a couple hours ago because it so whimsically wonderful but also the most wearable of the collection. Yay TLO! Thinking in sync!!!!
j_anson

Panniers. Oy.
Scarlet39

For the most part, I like it. But I got to the fifth row and the was like a record scratching in my head… where the heck did these looks come from and how do they fit with the collection?

And the first look from the sixth row is just absurd.
Pants_are_a_must

Well, right off the bat, all the skirts can go to a place where they will never be seen again.

The problem with Lagerfeld is that he thinks Lady Gaga but with a Blake Lively filter. The collection straddles the line between crazy couture and Gaga, but through a Vaseline haze of the CW. Which is to say, you KNOW whoever might be able to wear this crazily will not be doing so.
http://twitter.com/hmbscully WendyD

I don’t understand the shoes.

I feel like a bad bitter kitten for admitting that, but I just don’t get those shoes with those “dresses”.
giiiirrrr

First Chanel collection I’ve seen in a long time where I do not covet any of it. Karl must still be a little woozy from Adelegate.
everest19

Ankle-length skirts paired with platform sneakers? Gag.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_CQPXLNCBM5CZSHZZXJDHPVFS7E Buffy

The first look and the pale green dress with the ruffly skirt are pretty on their own, but the rest I can’t see anyone wearing, not even Niki Minaj or Gaga. But some of the pieces might work as seperates. The white & gold jacket in Row 4 would look great with a long floaty skirt and the black jacket at the end of Row 7 would look good with anything other than those pants…
Ana Jost

I dislike most of the pieces except for the second dress and the Men’s denim jacket , the shoes are funky too the rest is just hideous
http://www.facebook.com/people/Christopher-Lally/1813707728 Christopher Lally

Everywhere I go, boys in petal pushers attract attention. Karl is just being slutty.
terekirkland

I was going to mock the high-waisted pannier knickers, but they at least go with the collection. What’s with the bathing beauty/biker chick with the saddle-bag cover-up?
- Spicytomato1
  
  I know, that piece is the worst. Imagine the ripping it would get on Project Runway.
  - Amy Ellinger
    
    It’s just not aesthetically pleasing!!!
Kate4queen

I’ll have that pink suit third row up from the bottom please!
rainwood1

Oh my lord. The stark light of day does not improve the crazy.
Nariya

I’m digging the palazzo pants, not gonna lie.
http://twitter.com/urban_gypsy Tess Danesi

6th row 1st outfit. I’ll take that swimsuit and chapettes in every color. Maybe chapettes are the new granny panties,I wanna be ahead of the curve.
- Spicytomato1
  
  Haha, “chapettes.” That’s a technical term, right?
http://www.facebook.com/people/Sierra-Delta/100003182924700 Sierra Delta

Some of these actually do look like fun — but not for the prices Herr Lagerfeld will insist upon charging.
EEKstl

That seafoam chiffon is one to watch.
http://twitter.com/Merneith Merneith

Seriously. If anyone on PR made clothes this dumb they’d be laughed off the show. Michael Kors would give himself an infarction. I mean. I mean. I mean – I can’t even pick out just one outfit to make fun of. But look at the black and white number on the left, fifth row down. It’s a one-piecce bathing suit for a dude with six nipples, complete with Booty Tooch pad. (Don’t even pretend you don’t know what that is.) If there was any justice in this world, Coco Chanel would rise up from her grave and snatch Karl Lagerfeld baldheaded.
http://www.facebook.com/tuckeramy Amy Tucker

I really feel like the big clunky shoes really detract from a lot of these looks. It’s the scroll down effect – the top is awesome, the middle is cool, the bottom is like a record scratch with those damn shoes. They are so aggressively ugly, I can’t handle it.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_3DWDLRZCK3MZICZKYJDR55MC4Y soren

Finally, a Canadian tuxedo for Adam Ant and people who dress like Adam Ant.
poketom

Those shoes are disgusting. But I’m sure they will do very well in the new booming Asian market that chanel has been catering to as of late.

I actually really like a lot of the pieces though. Take away the ridiculous styling and there’s some really cute dresses in there. As it is this collection will the magazine editors plenty to work with though.
LesYeuxHiboux

I see the Sisters Fanning and that Moretz girl rocking many a look from this collection in the near future (when really Abigail Breslin should be the one to give them a go). Love the use of the motif from the fountain at Versailles in the leather jacket. This is fun, I just hope Austin Scarlett was somehow involved.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_2CNDPMVO4W23R5TVC2QMTJ5BZE Heather

I’m OK with whimsy but can’t get behind these for some reason. Several of them look like a Sexy Little Bo Peep Halloween costume. And the menswear is silly (by menswear I mean the clothing that signifies as male, as many of the models are androgynous).
Judy_J

There is quite a lot here that I would wear if I could afford it. And there are quite a few looks I wouldn’t be caught dead in. A mixed bag, you might say. I especially like the little plaid suit, the blue dress with the dropped waist gold skirt, and the last dress on the bottom row.
aimee_parrott

As always with Chanel, the jackets are making me contemplate a life of crime, because that’s the only way I could afford them.
michelle shields

sorry but all sorts of ugly
MilaXX

I like most of these except that last row of milkmaid dresses. I also like the platform sneakers he accessorized with.
http://twitter.com/lenabena_ Elena

I’m not a big Chanel fan, but I’m kind of digging that last dress. Probably because it’s the one with the fewest shit on it.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Bethany-Roullett/100000413803142 Bethany Roullett

I love this whole collection. Sure, maybe it’s just cause I love 18th century French fashion, but I covet so many of these pieces. Coat in the last row on the left? I would trade my car for it. Actually, I would probably have to pay some on top of the car trade-in. But I adore that coat.
YourBaloneyDontGotNoSecondName

culottes? CULOTTES?
- TieDye64
  
  I know, right?
marilyn

Purple hair! Tangerine hair! Green hair! Dresses with BIG hips! Yikes!
http://profile.yahoo.com/K3O2QNXDJIU3AJINAGNJRYWDZ4 mrspotts66

ummmm…perhaps i’m not a chanel girl. don’t like.
- Lisa
  
  I hear ya.
- Carleenml
  
  more likely you’re not a karl girl. coco. i miss her. i haz a tear. to me, this is not chanel.
  - nancylee61
    
    She was a horrible human being, a Nazi sympathizer and active supporter. I can never understand how she got such a good reputation. I wouldn’t buy anything from chanel, no matter who wealthy I am.
sleepycat

gasp, I love this collection and usually I hate KL’s Chanel stuff, although the boys clothes are something out of a porno.
http://twitter.com/Emcee_Escher R. Beers

It feels less like Rocker Marie Antoinette and more like Japanese Lolita playing dress-up with her American grandmother’s clothing.
PastryGoddess

As styled this collection is cray cray…but once you start looking at the individual pieces Unkle Karl did good.

Let it be known that I want every single jacket from that collection and will cut a bitch who gets in my way
granddelusion

LOVE the sneakers!
Sarah Thomas

Karl Lagerfeld is the most overrated designer in history.
- SewingSiren
  
  No. Gabrielle Chanel is.
http://twitter.com/SparklyCasanova UglyCasanova

Hahahahaha — that is all!
SewingSiren

I kinda love some of them.
But I think he was more inspired by (mocking) American tourists at Versailles.
Roman000

Only care about Jon K (the guy with the watering can).
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=517890557 Willis Cramer Kliefoth

I’m really surprised by all the negativity here. I thought the readers of this site would be more understanding of inspired high fashion. It’s not supposed to be totally wearable, it’s supposed to create a fantasy…
Judy_S

I would like to look under the skirts. To see how he gets that pannier effect.
PeaceBang

Marie Antoinette Goes To Tennis Camp? Any of the beautiful individual pieces are impossible to appreciate within the overall insulting crapfest. The wigs — the wigs DESTROY the looks. The “menswear” is — really, Uncle Karl? Where and under what conditions would anyone who isn’t Adam Lambert wear these looks?
- TieDye64
  
  You said what I was thinking, but said it far better than I could. Completely agree with your assessment. It is a crapfest.
Rand Ortega

Those poor guys. They look like they’re manning the rides at Disneyland Denmark.
http://twitter.com/Athenabast Athena Bast

I don’t see Chanel in this… and I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.
MK03

How psyched do you think the models were to wear sneakers?
Aurumgirl

Every wrong look from the 80′s, intensified. Because this collection is so thoroughly ugly, I wouldn’t even buy cosmetics and perfume from the guy.
BayTampaBay

Uncle Karl did it again. I love this collection.
Kimmu

I pretty much love all of it, especially the Rococo menswear inspired looks, but then, I am always complaining and wishing fops and dandies would come back into this world.
bluefish

All of this makes me miss the great Yves St Laurent. Many of these bring to mind Santino’s hilarious PR outfit — which one was it? A lingerie challenge in which he seemed to incorporate lederhosen and antlers?
- http://frankbettecenter.org/ sleah_in_norcal
  
  yes, i see santino at work here. are he and karl having a fling? don’t think he’s karl’s type though. he definitely can’t work hotpants in st. tropez.
VicksieDo

I really adore this collection. It’s youthful and rich — like the palace of Versailles updated. The colors were summery, the fabrics interesting, the shapes so new. The only thing I really didn’t like was the platform sneaks. With heels, most of these would just blow away any room you walked into. I’m a big Chanel fan from way back
quiltrx

As usual, the jackets are amazing.

And I’ll take the black dress in the bottom row, please, and go somewhere to get my HBC on.
guest2visits

What with all the same wigs and shoes, and the same pale pastels; they give the impression of dollies in costume;
hanging like laundry on the clothesline. I agree with some other posts that the wigs brought the look down.
Still; there are a couple of dresses and a sweater that I’d like to see closer.
CatherineRhodes

Unimpressed.
Qitkat

Just weird, most of em.
Sister wife wears couture, rows 2 and final.
Row 5, second from left, that’s pretty sharp, the diagonal squares of gold and silver on black, with the matching bag.
Row 6, left, so bizarre. What woman would wear a codpiece? Cause that’s the effect here.
All in all, splitting up the outfits, there are some cute separates.
http://frankbettecenter.org/ sleah_in_norcal

what were the model instructions, hunch over and scowl? lose the sneakers and the ugly faces, and most of these are adorable.
the two men in cornflower blue look ridiculous.
nancylee61

Are they kidding??? These are wonderful, for a high school play set in revolutionary France, complete with these cheap and ugly costumes. HAHAHA!! Chanel sucks again. I hate chanel, but must say I am influenced greatly by the fact that Coco Chanel was a Nazi sympathizer AND Nazi supporter. I despise her.
lilazander

UGLY as hell; excessive and tacky.
Sóley Sigurþórsdóttir

This collection is so unusually fun for Chanel, I love it. The wigs and platform sneakers are such a brilliant move, people are going crazy for them and this runway show. Go Karl.

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Chanel Resort 2013 Collection

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