The spring sun starts to rise in autumn, bringing with it a CHANEL eyewear collection imbued with accents of elsewhere as well as a more classical aesthetic with a twist of surprise detailing.
With the CHANEL 2017/18 Cruise collection, The Modernity of Antiquity, Karl Lagerfeld delivers his vision of ancient Greece and revisits its most famous mythological symbols. To accompany the collection, two new sunglasses frames see the light of day. Framed with laurel leaves, the designs have the look and the preciousness of real jewellery. Adorned with this ornamentation, the first has round frames and is encircled by inserts recalling the veins of this refined foliage. Cast in golden metal and chiselled by hand, they delicately intertwine giving the impression they’d quiver in the gentlest of breezes. A second frame is fashioned from a polished cellulose acetate to resemble a material that’s characteristic of antiquity: marble. Soft, wide edges dress the rounded square lines. On both pairs, new lenses protect the gaze like discreet make-up: in a tinted pink peach, they prettily veil the eyes, in perfect delicacy.
At the time of the spring equinox, CHANEL has imagined three new stories; three families for three different looks, all connected through a palette of velvety hues that blend with every skin tone and intensify a glowing complexion as efficiently as a sweep of blusher: the transparent or opalescent acetate comes pigmented in rose blush, sunny beige, pretty brown and clear jade.
First, there’s a butterfly frame redesigned with more understated and almost masculine lines, playing the androgynous game. In this same story are two revised classics, the feminine XL square and the retro round. They all sport a gradated, ultra-flat lens that nests at the edge of the temples. In addition to the softest powder pastels and iconic black, are a tortoiseshell tone and a crystalline grey. Ultimate detail: the blurred acetate reveals the quilted structure inside the temples.
Then comes a design inspired by Mademoiselle Chanel’s own look; the timeless butterfly frame she often wore. Redesigned in an ultra-feminine faceted version, established on temples that mix gold, silver or pink metal with acetate, it is elegant and sporty.
Finally, springtime announces the continuation of a futuristic story that started this autumn: that of the frames equipped with a trompe l’oeil clip-on lens in the shape of a mask. In this original line, the lens colours and the acetate unite in a harmonious marriage.
The CHANEL Spring 2018 eyewear collection will be available in boutiques from November 2017.