If you have a firm grasp on what “nautical” implies, when applied to fashion, then you already have a pretty good idea of what you’ll find in the Chanel Cruise 2018 collection, which debuted late last week at the Grand Palais in Paris, complete with a steam ship docked on the set. There were tones of ivory, red and navy, rope detailing, accessories in the shape of life preservers, and, of course, a ton of bags. It wouldn’t be Chanel if there weren’t a ton of bags.
Evaluating a Chanel collection based on its relative merits feels almost beside the point in 2018; the accumulated prestige of Chanel means customer interest is easier to sustain on a season-to-season basis, barring any big, sustained missteps, than it would be for brand that lack the bullpen of classic designs that guarantees the brand’s contemporary relevance. (Which is almost all other brands.) I can conceive of a future in which Chanel isn’t quite so firmly ensconced atop the industry, but that future, should it even happen, is a long way off.
And so, the biggest departure from form for Chanel Cruise 2019 is the introduction of the uber-popular Chanel Boy Bag in a new proportion, which we covered in depth on Friday. The collection also showed an emphasis on the brand’s increasingly popular vanity case bags, which look like they will expand as a line in coming collections. Beyond that, the bags’ details took their cues from traditional seafaring ideas, and in particular, La Pausa—that was the name of Coco Chanel’s one-time home in the South of France. Check out the bags below.
[Photos via Vogue Runway, Vogue Russia and Chanel]
