Karl Lagerfeld, that sublime master of all things luxury, has once again produced a spectacular collection for pre-fall 2011. Taking inspiration from the Byzantine era, the fashions oozed opulence with rich textures, deep jewel-tone colours and gem-encrusted detailing. The hair appropriately mirrored the clothes, evoking dreamy empresses of the past, complete with regal headpieces and tiaras. The makeup was kept deliberately understated in order to compete with the detailed clothing, although the one runway look concession was to add a vivid garnet stripe directly above the eye crease, elongating the eye and adding a somewhat Egyptian inspired mystique.
With this collection, CHANEL is also releasing a limited edition palette, ‘Lumières Byzantines’, which is a collection of 5 cream based colours in varying tones of gold. With only 1,500 slated to be made available worldwide, Creative Director Peter Phillips pays homage to the various Métiers d’Art that have contributed to the house of CHANEL. The design of the palette itself is inspired by the baroque influenced jewelry that Maison Goosens designed for Gabrielle Chanel in the 50’s.
The shades, meant to be applied using your fingers, are primarily for the eyes and face; the palest colour in the middle is meant to be worn under the brow bone, the tone to its right is a perfect highlight for the cheekbones, drawing attention up to the eyes. The yellow-gold shade makes eyelids gleam and come alive, while the bottom tone adds an alluring sheen to the inner corner of the eye. Finally, the metallic brown based gold at the top of the palette becomes a sultry eyeliner worn under the bottom lashes.
There is no doubt that this palette will become a statement piece once available and incredibly difficult to get one’s hands on. It also has the added benefit of being a work of art one can wear, but seriously……who will want to dip their fingers (or a brush even) into any one of these shades and risk marring their utter perfection? I mean, just look at it! How gorgeous is this, I ask you?
I leave you with a few looks of the collection photographed by the Kaiser himself, Karl Lagerfeld, for you to dream over………
*Invitation image courtesy of Chanel news
*Lumières Byzantines image courtesy of French Vogue Beauté
*Looks courtesy of French Vogue
