I have decided to try this look when I ride in the 5 Boro Bike Tour this May. I wonder where Karl got his bike gloves. Nashbar? Must make a new to-do list.

The Haves vs. The Have-Nots. Ticket holders
got to stand under Chanel umbrellas while they waited.
The rest of us used $10 generic varieties.


The Well-Heeled, waiting to get in to the Chanel Mobile Art Pavilion Saturday.


Yes, these heels do indeed say Chanel.
Many attendees dressed in Chanel for the event.

Last Saturday was the second to last day that the Chanel Mobile Art Pavilion would be in New York. Rain showers were predicted. I had no ticket. But I did have some time to invest. I didn't think fashion people would want to wait in the rain. They don't like their outfits getting wet. But I was wrong.

I woke up at 6. Was out the door by 7. A world record for a Saturday. When I arrived at 8, the line was already three hours long.

I got to see the show at 10:30. Only two and a half hours later, not three. All in all, a good time. I met the nicest people in line and we talked the whole time. And then we got to see the show together and talked some more. Worth the wait? I am not sure. I felt compelled to see it, and would have regretted not seeing it. Yes, fashion succeeded again in creating a deep desire for something I did not have.

Yesterday, I read an article somewhere that New Yorkers love to wait in lines. The article was about the Chanel Art Pavilion, a temporary art installation designed by Zaha Hadid, which landed in Central Park on October 20. I disagree. New Yorkers strongly dislike waiting in lines. But they seem to do it anyway. I can't imagine waiting and waiting and waiting in the Chanel line for two hours. I just can't do it. Even if I brought a book, which I didn't, and was alone, which I wasn't. I did really want to experience the space inside the spaceship-like pod. Perhaps on a rainy day when there will be no line. But I only have until November 9 to do so. The Chanel Art Pavilion is off to London, Moscow and Paris after its New York engagement, following Hong Kong and Tokyo.


Zaha Hadid's Chanel Art Pavilion is located in Central Park at the Rumsey Play Field. Enter at 5th Avenue and 69th Street. October 20 - November 9, 2008. Free timed tickets required. Currently sold out. Try your luck waiting on line, day of show, for cancellations.

Sunday, October 26. The 12:15 session. Reserved tickets only.


The line for "try your luck" began here. The white glow from the spacecraft
is strangely in every one of my pictures.

And more line. After talking with some people, it seemed
that the wait would be close to 2 hours. We abandoned hope
and went to Madras Mahal on Lexington and 28th for Indian food.
We were greatly rewarded with a lunch buffet.

Being a Karl Lagerfeld fan, I could not resist posting this little item. By way of Refinery 29.

I visited the Chanel store on E 57th Street this afternoon. It was fabulous. After seeing the Karl Lagerfeld documentary, Lagerfeld Confidential, two or so weeks ago, I felt compelled to explore the store. When I reached the third floor, I got the chills. Please don't forget, I am a big fan of Karl.

Karl Lagerfeld's creative presence is palpable in the design of the store. That Chanel remains a designer-driven brand today is precisely what appeals to me. Karl's distinct vision for the brand is well-translated on all three of the floors: in the products of course, in the black and white stairs (oh the stairs! it's like ascending keys on a grand piano), in the oversized Murakami-esque black patent camelia sculptures (so modern and strange and otherworldly), and in the lighting (the place was positively luminous like beautiful glowing skin).

But the third floor was my favorite translation of the specialness of the Chanel brand. The third floor captures the spectacle and excitement and headiness of the runway presentation. Which detail did my eye take in first? The cluster of black spotlights arranged in a long narrow row that runs the length of the store, as if to light a catwalk below? The 30 to 50 outfits that seem to float all around the perimeter of the spacious room? The stately seating area that is the room's focal point, aglow in white chiffon and looking like something from Mozart's Abduction from the Seraglio made modern and minimal?

I spent a rejuvinating thirty minutes walking around the store with a pleased grin on my face. Karl had breezed past me in Paris in 1994 when I was there for the Spring shows, and I spent the subsequent three hours calming down from being in his presence. And at the Chanel store on 57th Street, I felt like I was in his presence again.


Chanel
9 E 57th Street
New York
212.355.5050

The Chanel store on 57th, one November day.

At this large size, the signature Chanel camelias take on an otherworldly quality.

The oversized Takashi Murakami-esque black patent camelia sculpture.


The black and white stairs at the back of the store,
reminiscent of keys on a grand piano.


The seating area on the third floor is the room's focal point,
aglow in white chiffon and looking like something from
Mozart's Abduction from the Seraglio made modern and minimal.

Dove of Peace, detail, gift from Pope John Paul II
on display at the UN

I fell in love with a certain bird necklace at the Chanel store today. It was a textured chunky silver with a variety of blue stones inset. And now I am sad that I did not sneak a photo, because I can't seem to locate it on the Website. The bird reminds me of the Dove of Peace mosaic displayed at the UN, in feeling anyway. I have a strong bird thing happening right now, to be sure. I just saw a great bird ring at Dalaga yesterday, which also reminded me of the UN dove. I will have to get a picture of it for you in the next day or so.

I was just combing Chanel.com for the picture of the bird, and found this instead. No wonder why the Dove of Peace reminded me of the Chanel bird.

By some mysterious stroke of good fortune this past Saturday, when we arrived at Film Forum for the new documentary on one of my favorite designers, Karl Lagerfeld, we found that the 8:20 showing of Lagerfeld Confidential was totally free. It was paid for by HSBC. When does that ever happen? Thank you HSBC.

So I suppose you want to know my feelings on the film which Lagerfeld debuted during Paris Fashion Week earlier this month. Well, I love a chance to learn anything about Karl, and to see him in action. So in that way, it was a treat. But I feel that the powerhouse creative side of him was not explored enough and explained enough. You want to come away from a film about an artist inspired and itching to get in the studio and create something yourself. You want to feel energized in your own pursuits. I am afraid that this film did not have any arc of storytelling and lost its way and its momentum too many times. But if you are a fan of Karl, it is certainly worth a watch. Especially if HSBC is covering your ticket!

People often ask me what designers I like (Marc Jacobs, Tom Ford, Karl Lagerfeld), and then after they have listened politely to my answer, love to get into the fine points of the designers they love or have heard of, or who are selling at H&M. For me, fashion is not only about the clothes, but also about the psychology, the packaging, the branding, the marketing, the mixing of pattern, color and texture and the resulting unique juxtapositions one can create, and the mining of cultures, time periods and other art forms for inspiration.

I am interested in Marc, Tom and Karl for the brands they have built, the style they create, and for what they have to say. I was sorry to hear when Marc checked himself into rehab, and was rooting for Tom to find new backers and design under his own name after he left Gucci. To read or listen to a Karl interview is a thrill. Did you read the March 19, 2007 in-depth article about Karl in The New Yorker? It is fantastic. I savored every word. Here is one outlandish quote, which gave me food for thought:

“I throw everything away!” he declared. “The most important piece of furniture in a house is the garbage can! I keep no archives of my own, no sketches, no photos, no clothes—nothing! I am supposed to do, I’m not supposed to remember!” He smoothed a gloved hand over the empty page in front of him and visibly relaxed.

I follow a lot of brands, and naturally a lot of trends; but I am most interested, as a designer myself, in the moments of inspiration before the final product. Sure, I can find inspiration in some clothes in some stores sometimes, but I get consistent ideas and creative excitement from the urban landscape, from art and sculpture, from the textures, materials and patterns in architecture, and in the juxtapositions of all of those things that cause me to pause, write in my notebook, take a photo, or publish my musings in the blog.

Whether you are new to my blog, or have been reading since my first entry on December 18, 2005, you can begin to understand from my various entries what interests me most about fashion and the world around me, and what makes me tick as a designer, writer, and assimilator/processor/re-processor of stimuli. I guess I am interested in the creative process in general, and the moments that lead up to the creative product. I am interested in other creative people's stories of what drives them to make what they make. For me, that happens to be clothing and accessories.

I am interested in the specific artfulness of clothing, but also in the artifice of clothing, or the manner in which people choose to present themselves publicly. But that is another post for another day. Suffice it to say, clothing gives the wearer a layered power of expression. And what specific personality or qualities about ourselves are we attempting to communicate with the facade we choose each day? Food for thought.

Lookie here. You can get an internship with Karl Lagerfeld! Now that would be fun. Karl Lagerfeld is one of my favorite designers. I am always so excited to read any of his interviews. The interviews he gives are the best. That is that. He brushed past me in Paris during the shows, fan, ponytail and dark glasses speeding along. It was thrilling!

Pictured above is his recent runway show in Paris for Chanel (Spring 2007), with the runway design imitating the retail store (and of course poking fun at those that clamor for Chanel, pressing their little noses up to the vitrine). It wouldn't be a Karl Lagerfeld production if he didn't overtly poke fun at his staunch supporters and customers. It's a good thing they miss the references.

Yesterday, I found myself talking with the best friend of one of the recently laid-off designers for Karl Lagerfeld in New York. As a matter of fact, the whole design team was laid off, according to my source. I am wondering if he pulled the plug on his all-black-and-white-line he debuted at New York Fashion Week last year. I must know! I will do some research and be back later with my findings.


***
My suspicions confirmed:

One click and I have my answer. His ill-fated diffusion line. "No matter," according to the best friend. The diffusion line designer "was making such a ridiculous amount of money" that she is spending a month or two in Italy. How nice.