Chanel Shopping Center

CHANEL's fashion shows are always unexpected, but with the set of Karl Lagerfeld's most recent Fall-Winter 2014/15 Prêtà- Porter collection for the house, the designer seems to have finally outdone himself. The concept of the catwalk was born anew as the "CHANEL Shopping Center," where models jostled with one another as they browsed shelves and placed items in their shopping trolleys. This was, of course, no normal supermarket but a spectacular ironic reinterpretation of CHANEL's beloved codes, where produce and packaging were re-designed according to Lagerfeld's wit and whim. There were thousands of items to behold including Mont Cambon wine, Mademoiselle Privé doormats, tweed energy drinks, Coco Flakes (to be eaten with no more than Lait de Coco), Paris-Dallas ketchup, lion-shaped pasta, as well as bottled water labeled "Eau de CHANEL No 0." The visual vocabulary of the supermarket equally informed Lagerfeld's collection: from chain shopping baskets, vacuum-packed handbags, bottle-top and padlock-shaped jewelry, to iridescent outfits with shoplifter-sized pockets. This book preserves the CHANEL Shopping Center in print, and is playfully styled as a mail order catalogue displaying all items seemingly for purchase-but only while stocks last.