FASHION FIRST
THE GOWN
TOOK 400
HOURS OF
DEDICATED
MANPOWER
TO PERFECTD
espite his death in February,
Chanel’s creative director,
Karl Lagerfeld, continues to
live on with some of his final
designs being re-created and
re-imagined months after his passing.
Honouring her “great friend” during
May’s Cannes Film Festival,
actress Penélope Cruz worked with
Lagerfeld’s successor Virginie Viard
to craft a version of one of Lagerfeld’s
final designs for the premiere of
Cruz’s new film Pain and Glory,
a last nod to the visionary’s enduring
presence on the red carpet.
The haute-couture gown,
which featured capped sleeves, a
full skirt and intricate hand-painted
detailing, took 400 hours of
dedicated manpower to perfect.
Changing it from its original
colouring of baby pink – the gown
debuted on Lagerfeld’s final runway
in January – to a deep blue (Cruz’s
favourite colour) was a labour of love,
which started with Lagerfeld.
“I had seen this dress in the last
haute-couture show by Karl Lagerfeld in
January, and it was a pale pink,” Cruz says
of the design. “Together with Virginie Viard,
we decided to make it in navy blue, which
is a colour that I love very much.”
The handing of the Chanel baton
might be well and truly realised, but a final
goodbye to the master of couture wouldn’t be
complete without one last Cannes red carpet.Penélope Cruz farewells her great friend
Karl Lagerfeld by wearing one of his last haute-
couture gowns at this year’s Cannes Film FestivalBEHIND THE SEAMS
DIARY
of a
DRESS
PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF CHANEL. TEXT BY FRANCESCA WALLACE.CLOCKWISE FROM
TOP LEFT Penélope
Cruz donning one
of Karl Lagerfeld’s
final designs; debuting
the gown at Cannes
in May; the original
design from Lagerfeld’s
final runway show.