Chanel smells success with tribute to No.5 perfume

Karl Lagerfeld unveiled Chanel's haute couture show for next winter on Tuesday night (July 7), paying hommage to the label's historic number 5 perfume.
Giant bottles of the classic scent set the stage at the Grand Palais, offering a reminder that many luxury fashion labels planning to survive the credit-crunch have branched out into lucrative accessories and perfume markets.

Models marched alongside the bottles in modern versions of classic Chanel cuts, with trains of various lengths added to hemlines and accessorised with lace stockings.

The classic Chanel tweed suit was updated with an extra panel at the back of skirts, often hanging below the rest of the hemline.

"Chanel 2009-2010 is with a refined look which is, at the same time, flirtatious for the leg with the trains that flatter in a flirtatious way," Lagerfeld said after the show.

Coats were equally modernised, some trimmed with fur, were made in rich colours for winter while lace hats covered some of the face but not all, acting almost as a veil.

"It's sometimes pleasant to be able to see without being seen. It creates mystery. It's nothing to do with the well-known veil that we talk about in newspapers. Mine is a flirtatious veil and of beauty," Lagerfeld said.

Cocktail gowns were made to feel pretty, with soft flowing trains.

"It's a graphic effect of modernity mixed with the spirit of what I think Chanel could be, should be, was. Or can be," Lagerfeld said.

The haute couture fashion shows for winter 2009/2010 will run in Paris until Wednesday (July 8).

PARIS, FRANCE (JULY 7, 2009) REUTERS