The never ending story of CHANEL boot

“With four pair of shoes I can travel around the world”, said Gabrielle Chanel in 1957 and created the first Mademoiselle’s silhouette. Karl Lagerfeld came to CHANEL in 1983 and until these days the slingback pump with a strap across the heel is taking the big part of elegance in different materials and variations.

The interesting fact is that Gabrielle Chanel never included them in her collections, but as a big horses fan she made them her companions in the countryside as much as in the city. In 1966 Women’s Wear Daily discussed her “motorcycle boots”, produced by Massaro, who in order to give them more flexibility, cut them from a felt that was exclusively blue, almost black, or sometimes white and blue. “My ankles swell a little and with these boots, you can’t see a thing! One day we’ll do them for the collection,” Gabrielle Chanel confided to Raymond Massaro.

While the boots remained reserved for her own daily life, Karl Lagerfeld has honored them regularly over the seasons. The motorcycle look of Mademoiselle’s boots crept into the Fall-Winter Ready-to-Wear collections of both 1991/92 and 1996/97. They made an appearance as never-ending thigh boots in the Fall-Winter 2005/06 Ready-to-Wear and the Paris-Byzance 2010/11 Métiers d’Art runway shows. They came in rubber for a rain boot version at the Fall-Winter 1994/95 Ready-to-Wear collection and in a faux fur for the Fall-Winter 2010/11 Ready-to-Wear collection. They were cut to mid-calf in two-tone leather – of course – for the Spring-Summer 2006 Haute Couture collection and were as supple as socks for the Spring-Summer 2014 Ready-to-Wear. Chained, laced up to the knee, embroidered, embellished with bows or grosgrain ribbons. Season after season, the boots express all aspects of Karl Lagerfeld’s creativity.

For the Fall-Winter 2017/18 pre-collection, the CHANEL boot adopts an urban look: elegant and comfortable. Karl Lagerfeld pursues the metamorphosis of the CHANEL boot with the Fall-Winter 2017/18 Ready-to-Wear collection. It is ready to conquer outer space on a low, slightly bevelled square heel. Its squared toecap is swathed in patent leather or Lurex while its sparkling fabric shimmers like a constellation of diamonds in the CHANEL galaxy.

Whether understated or elaborate, the CHANEL boot carries within it all the precision of a line as well as a timeless allure.