Paris Haute Couture 2019: Karl Lagerfeld’s absence overshadows 18-century-inspired collection show
The brand’s German creative director, 85, said to be ‘tired’ as he misses his spring/summer 2019 collection show in Paris on Tuesday
It’s been snowing in Paris, but not at Chanel, which showcased 18th-century-inspired couture that frothed inside a sunlit Italian villa.
For once, the brand’s creative director Karl Lagerfeld was absent.
Lagerfeld, 85, who has looked increasingly frail in recent seasons, did not come out to take a bow at the house’s couture collections in Paris because he was “tired”.
In his place, his long-time studio director Virginie Viard appeared through a door in the lavish Italian villa decor that had been painstakingly created by the fashion house.
It immediately prompted surprise and visible sadness from many fashion editors attending the show at the Grand Palais.
