A touch of the '70s?

Lagerfeld gives edge to Chanel's fall/winter fashions

Karl Lagerfeld     GALLERY Click to see Chanel's collection

From Elsa Klensch
CNN Style Correspondent

PARIS, France -- It was a wig -- cut in an asymmetrical style, combed forward over the face -- that set the young and trendy tone for Karl Lagerfeld's fall/winter 2000 collection for Chanel.

The designer discovered the wig during a fitting for the show, and he liked it so much, he had similar ones cut for all his models.

It conveyed the message for his collection: chic and sophisticated, yes -- but edgy, too.

"Maybe there's a little '70s touch," Lagerfeld said, referring to what inspired the collection. "One has to find something,"

Lagerfeld puts his coat jackets with skirts that have hemlines hovering around the knee. His pants often are slim jeans, and colors come in many varieties, both natural and bright.

Oversized pearls strung together with leather convey an "easy, casual attitude"

"There are lots of beige; there are kinds of strange greens, khaki greens and things like this," he said. "But there are lots of purples, all kinds of purple and amethyst colors and brownish colors."

Black also is present, but not overwhelmingly so.

"It's too easy to go back to an overdose of color," he said.

For evening, Lagerfeld offers British chiffon dresses, along with tweed jackets. The two complement each other, he said.

"There's always evening dresses that kind of ring or circle in the same material," he said.

Accessories? Lagerfeld has them all -- bags, boots, belts and beads. But it's the oversized pearls that get the attention.

"They have Ping-Pong pearls, huge pearls or sports pearls ... but they are attached by little strings of leather to each other, so they are softer, they're not as fragile, and they give a very easy, casual attitude."

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October 16, 2000
Gucci, Prada foretell simple elegance for spring
October 10, 2000
Lagerfeld to auction furniture, art collection
January 20, 2000
Greeting the year with femininity in mind
December 27, 1999
Chanel puts spring in Coco-motion
November 16, 1999
Chanel fall/winter line leaves past behind
March 23, 1999

Chanel.com

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