For his latest Chanel Resort 2018 collection, Karl Lagerfeld has drawn from Ancient Greece for inspiration.
The collection titled La Modernité de l’Antiquité was launched on Wednesday at the Grand Palais in Paris in what was a spectacular recreation of the ruins of the Parthenon in Athens and the Temple of Poseidon on Cape Sounion.
The 15-minute presentation saw models styled like Grecian goddesses walk along the runway decorated with pebbles, marble stones and sand alongside a real olive tree, shrubs and mountain flowers.
To complete the look ionic columns were erected, and a Greek sunset was painted as a striking backdrop, which proved to be an ideal contrast for Lagerfeld’s designs.
“Reality is of no interest to me. I use what I like. My Greece is an idea,” said Lagerfeld, who has a love of ancient history.
“The criteria of beauty in ancient, then classical, Greece still hold true. There have never been more beautiful representations of women. Or more beautiful columns,” he said.
“It is really about the youth of the world in all its power and unpredictability, just like the unforgiving gods.”
Throughout the collection there are references to antiquity with a colour palette of Cycladic blues, terracotta, earth browns and gold, the look completed with laurel leaf head ornaments, golden arm clasps, and footwear bearing knee-high straps.
Lagerfeld also reworked the red and black figure painted pottery from the time through the column dresses, with rows of illustrations.
While the 83-year-old has often chosen to present the cruise collection in places the likes of Cuba and Korea, more recently he has opted for Paris to celebrate and reinforce the brand’s commitment to his home city.
Amongst the celebrity line-up in attendance were actresses Keira Knightley, Isabelle Huppert, and filmmaker Pedro Almodovar.