Lagerfeld Gallery Spring 2004 Ready-to-Wear Collection on Style.com: Runway Review

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Lagerfeld Gallery Spring 2004 Ready-to-Wear

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PARIS, October 9, 2003

By Rebecca Lowthorpe

"Graphic effects!" exclaimed the designer backstage before he was swamped by well-wishers. Right. And there were plenty of them in his Spring collection, from the waspish silhouettes to the laser-sharp pleated dresses and bold prints.

Lagerfeld flitted from one theme to the next in his quest for a striking statement. Tough-shouldered jackets and stiff little skirts in croc-stamped leather were swiftly replaced by a fleet of sinuous, slithering sheath dresses—some with Grecian folds, others that clasped at the shoulder with a silver buckle. Next up, a couple of bikini-clad beach babes, whose jersey robes fell to the floor at the pull of a strap. Then came the faded denim: a natty cropped jacket here, a curvy pinafore there. These were hotly pursued by dainty chiffon dresses—in chocolate, black, or coral—given a graphic twist with shoulder straps and waistbands cut from sparkling shagreen.

Of course, the proceedings wouldn't be complete without the designer's obligatory strict black suits, worn with crisp white shirts, high starched collars, thin black neckties, and super-svelte skirts of both the mini and pencil persuasion. Nor would the show be the same without one of Lagerfeld's witty, self-mocking edicts: T-shirts, as slender as the designer himself, were branded with the message "4 Slim People." As if there was any doubt.

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