Chanel never fails to impress with the sophistication and splendor of its collections. Chanel also never fails to choose a difficult theme and run with it. In the most recent cruise collection, the fashion house accomplishes both with a very rococo inspired line.

The Louis the XIV of fashion himself, Karl Lagerfeld outdid himself by hosting the show at Versailles of all places. The location was impeccable, as Chanel would most certainly have you vacationing in the style of Marie Antoinette. Cropped, colorful hair and exaggerated hips, there was a definite them of the opulent baroque trend that will only become more prevalent in the fashion world. The looks from the show featured soft pastels in the onset. Powder blues and dusty pinks made the Marie Antoinette them understood from the start.

Decadent frills and some injections of mint green ensembles give way to metallic brocades, full gold skirts, and gold sequin embellishments. The looks seem reflective of the gilded glory of Versailles’ Hall of Mirrors. The silhouettes move into jacket and capri combos as well as several floral digital print dresses of light chiffon or organza.

These dresses have some of the architectural structure of some of the previous Marie Antoinette derived looks. However, they relate in the pastel color story and embellishment. Of course there are always those characteristic black and white Chanel looks. It would not be a Chanel show without them! The collection reaches its pinnacle in the several flawless finale dresses. These crisp white dresses with jewel-toned embellishments represent the perfect melding of all things Chanel with the inspiration subject matter of Marie Antoinette.  The garments contain a baroque-esque hip fullness but it is infused with wearable necklines and clean white fabric.

The Chanel collection is not only comprised of high class sensibilities. Elements like the short hair and platform creepers that most of the models wear bring a more playful and casual element to the collection. The mood of Chanel cruise of course very rich and rarified but it is also quite lighthearted and mischievous-“Let them eat cake,” indeed.

By: Sarah Humphries

Karl Lagerfeld and Carine Roitfeld  have revisited Chanel’s classic black jacket in a digital exhibition featuring 113 photos of celebrities, personalities, and style icons. Each photo has a special character in the unique way the wearer styles the jacket. Alice Dellal roughens hers up with a studded collar, net undershirt and leather vest. Julia Restoin Roitfeld cinches her jacket tightly and pairs it with a graceful floral headdress. Uma Thurman looks like a 1930s screen siren with her voluminous curls and ruffled blouse and, contrastingly, Kanye West looks modern and polished, and quite menswear, in the exact same garment. Jewelry designer Waris Ahluwalia’s jacket fits like a glove and he accessorizes it with a glittering feather pin. The diversity of the subjects and their variant styling shows how classic Chanel garments can be used creatively to fit the wearer. Stunning portraits and an expression of timelessness that crosses genders, generations, and social categories, this digital exhibition is definitely worth perusing.

See all of the photos in the exhibition HERE.

By: Sarah Humphries

Chanel has dedicated a fashion show featuring the house’s most recent Spring haute couture collection to victims of the Great East Japan Earthquake. The collection originally shown in Paris was as streamlined as its surroundings would suggest. The event took place in Tokyo’s Shinjuku ward in the Shunjuku Gyoen National Garden; the show being held in a specially constructed space built to imitate the interior of a futuristic luxury airliner. Like the Paris extravaganza, the garments shone. Lagerfeld takes as innovative an approach to garment construction as he does for his approach to promoting awareness for the cause. Boasting over one hundred fifty shades of blue, the collection was full of classic Chanel items, dresses and jackets in thick structural fabrics with a motif of a stand-up boat collar pervaded. A drop waist was the dominating silhouette which offered a sophisticated, yet youthful and feminine attitude to the collection. The silhouette makes a long and lean line for the body, creating elegant, flattering proportion.

 Before the collection moves into the lavish and elaborate evening gowns, which dominate the last half of the collection, it seems surprisingly wearable for haute couture, featuring coats, jackets, and dresses that any girl would kill to wear to lunch with her friends. Lagerfeld stated that innovative fabrics were used for the traditional-meets-ultramodern looking garments stating, “A lot of it isn’t even fabric. It’s embroidery.” That concept can be seen quite clearly in some of the later pieces which focus heavily on fabric manipulations such as embellishment and embroidery. There is a reason Chanel is so famed for it’s eveningwear, and one only must look at these gowns to understand why. There is still delightful hints of eccentricity in special aspects of the silhouettes such as structural sleeves or intriguing pocket placement. Tim Blanks of Style.com declared that if the fabric wasn’t full of embroidery, “it was cellophane. Or something else unlikely. And yet, there was a classic elegance about the result.”

There is also an elegance about the attitude to use beautiful fashion for a cause as important as this. We applaud Lagerfeld and Chanel for showing that the brand is very much about graceful clothes, but also emphasizes a graceful, giving attitude. This runway extravaganza for the victims of Japan is an excellent example of using fashion for a cause.

By: Sarah Humphries

This video represents an important aspect of the fashion industry that the world rarely sees often- garment construction. A little glimpse into this world, which drives the glitz and glamour of the runway, this video is such a beautiful representation of the creation process of fashion. The attention to the production of all garments should more keenly appreciated as, as this video reveals, this process is one of exertion, but also, it seems, a labor of love.

By: Sarah Humphries

Ultra-modern, refined and mysterious, Alice Della is the latest in the line of  CHANEL muses, each boasting their own inimitable allure.

If don’t know her by name, you’ll at least recognize Alice Dellal’s signature partially-shaven head, piercing blue eyes, tattoo collection and androgynous punk-rock ensembles. Karl Lagerfeld has not only admitted to crushing on the non-conformist British model/muscian, but chosen her to star in their new ‘Boyfriend’ handbag collection campaign.

“[Karl Lagerfeld] had a crush on this unique, charismatic young lady, who is both a model and musician, during a photo shoot several months ago,” Chanel told WWD.

Dellal is a drummer for all-girl punk band Thrush Metal,  with fellow models Emma Chitty and Laura Fraser, along with niece of the Earl of Dalhousie, Isabella Ramsey. Dellal has previously cited both style and musical inspiration from lead singer of American punk-band The Plasmatics, Wendy O Williams, who also has an affinity for anti-athoritarian garments, hardcore music, and bleach.

Some see Dellal as odd choice to be face of Chanel, but anyone who knows the Uncle Karl knows that he always have a few tricks up his leather-studded, fingerless gloves. “Alice Dellal represents the perfect incarnation of all that is unique about the Boy Chanel handbag collection which strives far from conformist notions of femininity.” explains Chanel. The campaign, shot by Lagerfeld himself, will be revealed in March 2012.

Lauren Valenti is founder of fashion and music website, TheVogueVibes.com , as well as a Contributing Editor to the My Fashion Database.

Who says people in fashion don’t eat? Because we do…sometimes. Well, instead of eating food, Karl Lagerfeld opted to hold a fashion show among an elegant dinner setting for the debut of Chanel’s Pre-Fall 2012 collection. The garments encompassed the fine craftsmanship we love about Chanel coupled with the creativity we love about Lagerfeld. For the season’s looks Lagerfeld drew inspiration from India. Many of the models donned traditional style Indian head pieces, which were blinged out to the max- the collection is named, Métiers d’Art.

Style.com dubbed it, “all the Raj” and went on to report, “The theme “Paris-Bombay” was a reminder that Europe’s fashion industry has increasingly turned to India to produce extravagantly handworked pieces as it has become prohibitively expensive to make them at home. Lagerfeld’s fiendish plan was to flip the equation, so that everything that looked intricately Indian was actually made by Chanel’s ateliers in Paris.” But what’s even more interesting is that Lagerfeld has actually never visited India. ”It’s much more inspiring not to go to places than to go,” he told Style.com. Uhmm…really? Because, we’d like to physically visit a destination to be inspired by it more.

Anyways, on to the show! The collection was obviously a hit with the jeweled accents along with the use of silks and tweed. On the catwalk Lagerfeld walked out alongside mature modeling maven Stella Tennant (above). Mother daughter duo Yasmin Le Bon (42) and Amber Le Bon (22) both walked in the show for a unique bonding experience. Front row, Bollywood starlet Freida Pinto showed her support. A-list models Kasia Struss, Arizona Muse, Crystal Renn, Anja Rubik, and even muse Baptiste Giabiconi got in the fun with a turban on the elegant catwalk.

(via Style, Telegraph, Wireimage)

I hope you can swim, because spring 2012 collections dived into the deep end with sea themed garments. Think mermaids, sea creatures, shells, and barnacles all re-imagined in high fashion form.

First there was Christian Siriano who said he was inspired by sea creatures, which is why his collection was full of bright hues and ruffles. Then Prabal Gurung showed some scuba material pieces in his daring collection.

However, these ended up being teasers for what was to come abroad when both Versace (left) and Chanel (right) showcased sea themed collections. Perhaps Donatella & Karl have been drinking from the same Kool-Aid? Versace debuted prints packed with sea shells and sea horses, while Chanel had a shell of a show thanks to an underwater inspired set.

Last, but certainly not least, Sarah Burton of Alexander McQueen presented gowns which had a dark underwater influence filled with aquatic drama. Think barnacles showered with delicate lace and beaded accents.

So, who’s ready to go for a stylish swim?

It looks like Karl Lagerfeld may have been drinking from the same water as Donatella, first Versace’s show went under the sea and now Chanel dived even deeper. Remember when we tweeted a teaser shot of the spring 2012 collection’s invitation? Well, the whimsical watercolors came to life thanks to Lagerfeld and with a little help from singer Florence Welch. Known for his elaborate sets, the designer had the entire Grand Palais morphed into an all-white underwater fairytale complete with ginormous shells and a harp player to welcome guests.

Once the show commenced models Daphne Groeneveld, Kasia Struss, Freja Beha Erichsen, Aymeline Valade, Anja Rubik, and Stella Tennant all paraded down the white runway. Meanwhile Welch. who was stationed inside a clam shell, sang harmoniously for the crowd. Along with the intimate concert, guests were able to channel their inner mermaid with sea greens, tulle and chiffon dresses, and some fishy silhouettes.

We’re hoping to see front row Chanel supporters Uma Thurman, Charlotte Kemp Muhl (with boyfriend Sean Lennon), and Japanese model Kiko Mizuhara in the sea styles very soon.

Anyone else ready to go swimming in Chanel?

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GIRL CRUSH ALERT! I’ve been fashionably lusting after Rachel Bilson since her days as Summer in “The OC”…Like, how perfect were Seth and Summer for one another? On top of being super adorable, Rachel Bilson also has an amazing sense of style…whether she is casually cruising around her home neighborhood of Los Feliz or is attending a Chanel runway show, Bilson always looks her best. And Rachel Bilson’s “best” is time and time again, classic with a hint of vintage and a dash of trendy-without the “trying too hard” part. To this day, she is one of the few celebrities whose closets I could see myself raiding…completely.

And although I did think that her not one, or two, but three videos for Magnum Ice Cream directed by Karl Lagerfeld were a tad weird, I am completely obsessed with InStyle Makeover‘s editorial featuring Bilson styled by Brad Goreski. Bilson dresses up as some very iconic Hollywood brunettes including Audrey Hepburn and Cindy Crawford (above) who I swore it was. The editorial is amazing!

View the full editorial and the team behind the scene on MyFDB!

Professional Credits:

Actress Zoe Saldana and one of the MyFDB founders (who recently spoke to Forbes) rocks the August cover of Flaunt magazine, looking in true Saldana form equally sexy and beautiful in a nude number with red nails and accessories that pop! Shot by Yu Tsai, Zoe rocked items by Chanel, Balmain, and Lanvin. The shoot comes in perfect timing with the the release of her next film “Colombiana” out August 26th. Saldana plays Cataleya Restrepo, who as a young child witnessed the murder of her parents in Bogotá. It’s at that point she decides she wants to become an assassin. Cat is taken in by her uncle, Emilio Restrepo who she works for as a professional killer seeking (beautiful) revenge.

View the full “Crosshairs and Silencers, The Silky Assassin” editorial from Flaunt on MyFDB! And for a little more, watch the trailer for “Colombiana” below!