Karl Lagerfeld

PARIS, March 8, 2009
By Tim Blanks
The ever-onward Karl Lagerfeld is not inclined to the backward glance. So in a season when everyone else is doing their version of the 1980's, a decade he helped define, it made perfect sense that he was focused on the 2080's—or, OK, at least the future. The metal-machine music of Metronomy introduced a collection whose thrust was technology and architecture. The models wore fur helmets with inset iPods (cushioning against the crash?), and Lagerfeld referred to the built-out shoulder that defined the silhouette as "the bridge."

As ever, this signature line was defined by a handful of branded elements: a leanness accentuated by the skinniest pants in Paris; a masculine, even military, hardness; a hint of the Vienna Secession in draped, black-velvet-banded eveningwear. This time, however, those "bridge" shoulders added a warrior-woman edge. And the long, languid line that formerly characterized the Lagerfeld label was replaced by a more structured look in short-sleeved jackets and skirts in silvered tweeds and mélange fabrics. But even Karl couldn't completely avoid an echo of everyone else's eighties. A square-shouldered, severely tailored black suit was right out of the closet of Rachael the Replicant from Blade Runner, 1982's definitive style guide. Interestingly, it was one of the show's more persuasive looks.

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