Chanel’s Hamburg show a homecoming for Karl Lagerfeld, his collection inspired by German city’s nautical history

When you go back to where you begin, a new cycle starts, says Hong Kong’s Wyman Wong of show that felt like a reboot for lauded designer, full of witty references to Hamburg’s seafaring roots

Reading Time:2 minutes

The finale of Chanel’s Paris-Hamburg Métiers d’Art show, with Karl Lagerfeld’s takes on the seaman’s cap adorning every model.

Published: 12:21pm, 7 Dec 2017Updated: 12:24pm, 7 Dec 2017

Karl Lagerfeld put the acoustics of the Elbphilharmonie concert hall to the test for his latest Métiers d’Art collection for Chanel, a homecoming for the Hamburg-born fashion designer.

The show started with a rendition of seafaring ballad La Paloma, performed by the resident orchestra directed by British cellist and Radiohead collaborator Olivier Coates, continued with a specially composed score by Coates and ended with a thunderous standing ovation echoing in the striking volumes of the futuristic hall.

Hong Kong’s Wyman Wong hailed the collection’s “incredible sophistication”.

Taiwanese actress Nana Ouyang watched the show.

Hong Kong singer and actor William Chan was among the guests for the Chanel show.

“It’s like a new international gateway,” British actress Tilda Swinton said of the building, a crest of metal and glass sitting atop a brick-orange warehouse designed by Swiss architectural firm Herzog & de Meuron, overlooking the harbour of Germany’s “gateway to the world”.