Very attached to the capital city, Karl Lagerfeld pays tribute to literary Paris, the one of book lovers and the Académie Française for the Chanel Fall 2018 Haute Couture runway show.

Autumnal Paris inspires the season’s colour palette: the pale grey of zinc rooftops, anthracite of street asphalt, black and a deep nocturnal navy, gold and silver reflections of the Moon in the rippling Seine. The pale pink and mauve of sunrise, the white, ecru and beige of cloudy mornings, the almond green of the roofs of historic buildings, all reinforce the gentle panorama.

Tweed, classic or plumetis, flannel, velvet, crêpe, lace, taffetas, radzimir and chiffon adorn a slender silhouette. It adopts an original central theme: a zip embellished with braid splits the profile of skirts and jackets with narrow sleeves, sometimes framing them completely. A construction that structures an ultra-elegant look: as well as often-contrasting linings, the zips on long or knee-length skirts reveal a mini-skirt while those on the jackets expose an enhanced waist and, on the arms, long colourful fingerless gloves. Jackets are also joined by pleated skirts. Chiffon blouses, high band collars, lace tops, and others with plastrons embroidered with sequins, beads and crystals, further enrich the collection.

For evening, the shoulders are split, the busts richly adorned, embroidered and draped with bows, in complete contrast to the understated skirts and lower part of dresses. Lightness and delicacy are the order of the day with a chiffon or tulle sweater warming an embroidered top. Boleros in night-hued sequins glitter like the lights reflecting in the Seine, while tops with crystals placed like Parisian cobblestones answer voluptuous skirts in white, black or grey chiffon. Velvet intervenes on a little black dress and its short silver robe, on a long black kimono with a lining embroidered with multicoloured flowers, a top braided with feathers sported with a long bubble skirt woven from silver tissue paper, and a long sheath dress finished with an embroidered bustier. The taffeta dresses have balloon shoulders, while others come with a high collar.

Finally, the bride steps out in a long straight dress and redingote-effect jacket in a pale green tweed embellished with leaves like those worn by members of the French Academy.

Go backstage as Lily-Rose Depp, Pharrell Williams and Penelope Cruz share their impressions of the latest Haute Couture collection after the Fall 2018 show in Paris.