By Stanley Lui

Set in the over-sized icy "jardin d’hiver" (French for winter garden) setting of the Grand Palais’ Salon d’honneur which sees its original structures completely revamped for the prestigious occasion of the Chanel Haute Couture Fall Winter 2012/2013 presentation, Karl Lagerfeld recreates the vision of a Parisian café society for his latest fashion show.

Reacting to the idea of a "New Vintage" in Haute Couture, Mr. Lagerfeld's latest collection for Chanel has a subtle and retro touch of the 1970's but are in essence built from fabrics which had never existed in the archives of the maison.

This meant a creation of new fabrics such as the embroidered tweeds and the use of patchworks which were hand sewn on lace; something which was never done before in the history of Chanel.

Unlike in the past when the maison's emblematic tweeds were woven, the embroidering of the tweeds in the current collection makes the haute couture clothing more lightweight.

“Renovation, evocation, continuity and the opposite of all that."

"I took the spirit and attitude of Mademoiselle Chanel to create something contemporary,” explains Karl Lagerfeld.

"Everything is reinvented."

"You will never find, in the archives, things looking like this. She never did it like this. It is the idea. My idea is to make what people think it was, but perhaps it never was, but what can be in the spirit of the people of years to come."

And hence, it is in the past the new couture collection finds its spirit and attitude while embodying the soft, fluid and more free-moving fashion of today. 

Deeply inspired by the French cubist painter and print maker Marie Laurencin, the colour palette is rather focused in this collection with the generous use of diaphanous black organza, pleats in raspberry pinks, white on white lace with feathers and shades of greys braided with an array of dusty pinks and salmon.

Like shimmering stars, the models wore coats and blouses illuminated by the glimmer of the appliquéd metallic sequins and the embroidered silver threads, with the necklines cut to look like inverted pentagrams with a striking V shape on the front to reveal the collarbone.

Mr. Lagerfeld topped the shine off with equally sparkling tights and two-tone pumps with metallic toe caps and heels for the legs. 

Ushering in the last segment of the show, were the delicate evening dresses with the bejewelled flower shaped buttons accentuating the sensuality of nude backs whiles adding a touch of playfulness to the front.

The dresses ranged from those such as the tulle veil layered crêpe dress embellished with the softest organza flowers to a chiffon gown tumbled with cascades of the most beautiful lace and another with the horizontal bands of crêpe, chiffon and patent leather finished with a pair of dusty pink bows at the shoulder sides. 

Closing the show was the IT model of the moment, Lindsey Wixson who was presented as Chanel's newest snow bride decked in an extravagantly feathered wedding gown in a continued streak of show stopping finale dresses showcased by the french maison over the last ten years.

This winter garden marriage between an imaginary past with the present to create a new vintage in haute couture for the future is clearly one that illustrates the virtuosity of the Chanel ateliers.