The Pi of Fashion: Part II | Collection : Chanel Haute Couture Fall/Winter 2010-2011.

Link to Part I

Haute Couture appreciation to me is more than just watching the overall looks. I might "eh" to the whole picture but I would never decline to take a closer look. At the end of the day, Haute Couture ("High Sewing" in English) is all about you and me getting choked and knocked by the meticulosity and sophistication of the Art of Couture.

Embroidery played a highlighted role this season as Karl presented quite a portion of embroidery-concentrating pieces. I held my breath for a while seeing this dress: sheer with fur is great enough but embroidered silk pushes the greatness further. It's in brown color but is not brown thing, it's subtle and regal. An inspiration from Coromandel screens can be seen here, correct me if I'm wrong.

Samantha Gradoville

Among others, I am also a yaysayer for these embroidered pieces. There lies no sleek luxe in the top on Karlie; it's the humility of detail yet mesmerizing chromatic combination that bring the luxe out of such "Little house on prairie" look. Delightful is another pseudo-two-piece dress on Erica: the statement tight collar, the flock of powerful flowers. The "richness" got richer in the embroidery of Hanne's look, you can tell from the regal palette (gold, silver, ruby, midnight navy). The density of the embroidery serves to emphasize the undeniable sumptuousness.

Nothing is "fair enough" in the world of Haute Couture; the highness of sewing must be restless. I feel like we have been watching a disciplined flow and this is where it ends. How could one not get excited about the look she was seeing and the looks she was expecting, when the crazily-handmade pieces were being presented ? The show got more and more dramatic. The insane jump, yes I'm emphasizing, the jump from color to color, material to material, characteristic to characteristic... everything happened as if you were a lion springing in the jungle and the grass, living in every bit of your large nature, you had everything under the sun.

I tried to figure out the pattern by which the looks were shown yet failed. So I knew that I'd just go with the jump, follow Karl's lead.

I'm in favor for this piece to be the fiercest one of its kind, also the richest with metallic fabric, diamond pattern, iconic touch (the bronze and silver lion details). Imperially Balenciaga-esque feeling though I hate to admit it. For the same motif, check the pieces on Alina K., Denisa Dvorakova and Anja Rubik

Shu Pei Qin

Lace and sheer in black are next. Karl seems to force these two kinds of material to convey the stiffness and boldness but the execution failed me, somehow. I'm barely a fan of those dresses, feel free to try turning me around. Check pieces on Hanne Gaby Odiele, Tati Cotliar, Sophie Srej and Kristy Kaurova.

Tati Cotliar

Now keep it going since we have a lot of tulle ahead: black tulle with wavy medieval details on Magdalena, rosy-embroidered brown tulle over lace on Snejana or brilliant layered tulle with flower motif appliqué on Barbora. I picked my favorite: dreamy gray tulle flowing from a bolero top adorned with bright-colored flowers against crude-looking, concrete-like gray. The contrast was there; it's obvious, evoking but not hard-hitting.


Bo Don

Insane amount of work and amount of time spent on craftsmanship make the price tags go equally insane. In spite of any dumbfounding number the house can possibly hang on its clothes, I bet clients still willingly send several dozens of grands to Chanel's bank account, since wearing a sea of sequin is one-of-a-kind fashion experience. I'm in an utter loss for word every time those sequin dresses are shown in movement,. The feeling stays very close to drowning in an extraordinary fluid of liquid-like glitter. They flow and they glow.

The selection of colors for the two first sequin pieces turned out to be amazingly correct. Glittering dark color on this kind of dress avoids tackiness but is still an infallible choice for high-profile events.The piece on Michaela is in some way more brilliant due to the usage of 3 different shades of red; the appliqué also makes a graceful touch.


Caroline Basch Nielsen

Michaela Kocianova

No agreement with the tank top and the tulle inner trim but the color surely is a brilliant marvel for sequin shine. The powerful handworked regalia embroidery will awe any eyes when viewed close.

Mirte Maas

The sequin fluid dresses, even if they're not going to be liked, at least knowing how many time spent on the making will impress: as Karl said, this dress took the most hours to finish (no less than some many hundreds, I guess). This piece indicates the collection's peak of embroidery intricacy; the flowers are gathered to density again but what's more to see is their cascading in an adorable yet daring manner. The floral fall appeared stronger, richer than that of Alexis Mabille's collection.

Jacquelyn Jablonski

My encounter with electric silver and pastel somewhat reminded me of last season's palette but I shook myself from the obsession because admittedly, last season led me to a blindly negative judgment on this season. The hemline of the piece on Jac looks so rigid as if it is made of Sevres porcelain while Anna's dress has a folky yet a little outer space feel in it.

Monika "Jac" Jagaciak

Anna Selezneva

Field of imperial blue sequin, gold artichoke-like appliqué, gold hemline, rounded sleeves, this look has the whole royalty and mythicalness. Needless to say, the dress became widely favorite. No pieces in this collection evoke in me more nostalgia than this one: Freja looks like "a girl waiting for her Ruritanian soldiers" (style.com). This is not merely a dress, to me it's a walking "Starry Night" (Van Gogh), a walking masterpiece. I was thrilled and I'm still being thrilled by now - the calmness and subtlety on her face are impeccable. Her aura is so divine that it squeezes my heart tight as if I'm being in front of a long-worshiped Goddess.