Chanel Cruise 2011: St. Tropez!

What is that noise?!

Oh, just the sound of a weeping Coco Chanel turning over in her grave.

To be fair, in the nearly 30 years since Karl Lagerfeld took over the reigns he has revitalized and saved Chanel from near financial ruin. Chanel as a brand is, arguably, as much now Karl Lagerfeld as it is Coco Chanel.

But this collection….it was an uneven mess!

Karl’s inspiration was his favorite beach town, St. Tropez (where the show was staged) so a certain amount of gaudy was to be expected. But so much of this was just Euro-trash! I know that St. Tropez is often referred to as the Jersey Shore of Europe but c’mon!

Still, you know I worship at the alter of Uncle Karl so there were some great pieces and we’ll start with them.

The Good?

The robin egg’s blue nail polish, plus size model Crystal Renn walking the runway, the bathing suits, the black & white looks (where Lagerfeld always shines), the (mostly unworn) shoes and the jewelry! Oh the jewelry! I’m still swooning.

(Click the thumbnails for full size views.)

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The bad?

Where do I start? At the kaftans, the patchwork denim, the ruffles, the color blocking, the stripes, or the crop tops? I hate the “return of the 90s” and there were times that this collection felt like my own personal hell especially with all the denim on denim! I don’t know about you but I don’t want to wear brown corduroy ever let alone on my glamorous tropical vacation! By the time the flashy club wear (a complete 180 from corduroy) appeared all I could think was, “Who decided that any of this was a good idea?!” Cruise/Resort collections often now makeup 60% of a designer’s sales and while this may appeal to the logo-happy, over tanned shopper it may feel alienating to the rest of Chanel’s clients.

And don’t even get me started on the men’s portion of the collection which can only be described as “icky”.

Click the thumbnails for the full size images!

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