It is interesting that some people see beauty while others feel compelled to use words like “dystopian” or “apocalypse.” To me, it kind of looks like the set of the Truman Show (which is not a compliment). Vive la difference!
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For those who criticize this as an immoral waste of money, pandering to the rich, etc., how do you feel about the millions spent on the Super Bowl commercials you just watched this past Sunday? Idiotic nonsense that had neither beauty nor charm, did nothing to lift the spirit, and were only meant to entertain people watching a boring football game on TV?
This beach was on a par with Christo's crazy island wrapping, his Northern California running fence of parachute silk rippling along the coast, and his wrapping the Pont-Neuf in Paris. Those who witnessed these creations will never forget them.
Faulkner said “The aim of every artist is to arrest motion, which is life, by artificial means and hold it fixed so that a hundred years later, when a stranger looks at it, it moves again since it is life.”
Lagerfeld's beach was ephemeral, gone, but photographs and video will still give us pleasure and uplift our hearts. It did mine.
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I think perhaps this paper forgets the exquisite sand dunes and setting of the final fashion show of the "The Last Emperor," Valentino Garavani, perhaps one of the last truly great designers...
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When they're all huddled around fires, trying to say warm in the aftermath of the apocalypse, people will point to this story and say "we had it coming."
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Wow. That's really beautiful. Art that people can experience with their bare feet! It's too bad they didn't build it in some unused warehouse; it could have been left intact for the public to enjoy after the show.
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Ok, same clothing as the last 10 seasons, this time on a beach, which makes it look even more ridiculous. Chanel needs a new designer! It is becoming really boring to watch its shows.
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The beauty of the 1900 Grand Palais steel and glass roof structure visible above the risible banality of the faux beach scene below says it all.
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And Chanel announced that after the show, all the sand would be donated to charity.
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Seems like a lot of waste.
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Personally I really like Chanel, for it manages to stick to its traditions and remain faithful to Gabrielle Chanel's initial style, and at the same time manages to adapt to our time, without lapsing into vulgarity - as we can unfortunately see in some fashion shows nowadays. Besides it is wearable, which shouldn't be a surprise for fashion but let's face it, it is getting rare..
Plus I think it nice to have special themes and settings for each show.
YET I can't help but wonder whether building such a beach is really appropriate, especially when you think that beaches are threatened by erosion and by the rise of the level of the seas...
Of course it is beautiful and certainly makes us dream but I mean 9 days and 150 people for a show only a happy few were able to enjoy...
Don't get me wrong, I love fashion and am quite fascinated by it...but sometimes I can't help but think it's a complete different world, far from our concerns and priorities..
5
This is #8 on NYtimes Monday’s top stories list. The summary for #7 reads:
“Our economics reporter pictures an island — a relatively small group of highly educated professionals making good wages — awash in a sea of workers without college degrees, stuck at businesses like hotels, restaurants and nursing homes that generate much smaller profits per employee and stay viable primarily by keeping wages low.“
I’m not sure if the contrast was intentional, but the two stories back to back certainly paint a dystopian picture of a new Gilded Age.
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Beautiful! It was a work of art and I wish with all my heart that I could have been there to see it in person. Thanks, NYTimes, for a bit of relief from all the current gloom.
1
This is the type of banal advertorial I do not expect to see anywhere in the NYT Magazine, even Style. I am rendered less intelligent having clicked this link. If Chanel didn't pay for this story, it's written like they did (which is even more irritating than a NYT cash-out).
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@John As someone interested in design and architecture, I was fascinated by this article. The sheer feat of transforming the Grand Palais into a beach, with sand and waves, was remarkable. The Times (and other newspapers) have always reported on fashion - indeed, one of the Times' most recognized and respected reporters was Bill Cunningham who would surely have been delighted by this show. I do not understand what your issue is.
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@John
Right on. Not to mention the horrible optics of this pandering to the 1%. Chanel could have, with a little imagination, done something else much more worthwhile with the huge cost of this show,
1
I found it fascinating. And I have zero interest in fashion.
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