Inside Chanel’s casino-themed (and celeb-stacked) Fall 2015 Couture show

by Bernadette Morra July 7, 2015

Feeling lucky? Karl Lagerfeld sure is. For Chanel‘s Fall 2015 haute couture collection he created a casino complete with slot machines and gaming tables in the Grand Palais. Chanel muses including Kristen Stewart, Julianne Moore, Rita Ora and Lily Collins (all in couture and diamonds, bien sur) bellied up to the blackjack and roulette tables while croupiers shuffled cards and doled out chips. Models then came strutting by in a collection that had a vague ’20s air thanks to the angled bobs and heavily rouged cheeks.

But futuristic technical innovations put this collection solidly in the here and now. So much so that an engineering degree would have come in handy to understand the show notes. Mademoiselle Chanel’s classic skirt suits had a mesh-like surface created via a high tech laser process that turns powdered metal into a solid. One silver lace bodice was bathed in metallic lacquer. The collection theme was 3D, so there were caviar bead-trimmed dresses that veered far from the body and collars that looked like an haute form of K’Nex.

Model of the moment, Kendall Jenner, closed the show in a bridal pantsuit and veil, dotted with thousands of crystals. After the show, guests snapped selfies at the gaming tables including a real life casino owner from Las Vegas. “It’s not enough they take thousands from me for dresses,” he said with much amusement. “Now Chanel wants to take my business too.”