From Paris Fashion Week to hipster cafes of KL with Chanel Cruise 2018

Earlier in May this year, the Grand Palais in Paris was transformed into a scene straight out of ancient Greece. Guests sat amongst crumbling ruins, a replica of the Temple of Poseidon, as models stalked past in gladiator sandals, with Roman columns as heels, wearing jersey gowns and tweed outfits matched with iridescent metal headbands, floral-embellished, multi-layered necklaces, rope bracelets, and colourful leather cuffs with interlocking double Cs.

The Cruise 2018 show was called ‘The Modernity of Antiquity’, and I was curious to see if this modernity would sit well outside of Lagerfeld’s made-up version of ancient Greece. (“Reality is of no interest to me,” Lagerfeld said. “I use what I like. My Greece is an idea.”) And so at the Paris shows in September, I dug into Chanel’s Midas chest to see how it fared in modern-day Paris (although this time, the Grand Palais was transformed into a tropical paradise with six waterfalls for the Chanel Spring/Summer 2018 show).

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Back in the heat of Kuala Lumpur, craving my typical Parisian breakfast of a croissant and coffee, I head out to one of my favourite spots to get my fill.

A few days later, a meeting brings me to a café that’s set within one of the pre-war townhouses in Chinatown. Set up like a traditional kopitiam with wooden chairs and round tables with marble tops, a feature that struck me within the café were its timeworn walls with layers of peeling paint. Somehow the iridescent metal Chanel headband and bracelets I had on, matched our environs perfectly. And that is Lagerfeld’s genius; his take on ‘modernity of antiquity’ that somehow manages to look timeless yet current. 

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All accessories worn are from the Chanel Cruise 2018 collection, available in stores on Friday, 24 November 2017. Chanel is at LC-G06-7, Suria KLCC. Tel: 03-2726 1818.