As mentioned in my previous post about Charlize Theron looking like a mermaid on the cover of Vogue’s December issue, many designers channeled the sea for inspiration in their spring 2012 collections.
In typical Chanel fashion, Karl Lagerfeld created an underwater dream in his spring 2012 collection. He transformed The Grand Palais of Paris into a magical ocean complete with coral, shells and seahorses. Karl was supposedly musing on the modern forms that developed at the bottom of the ocean by natural processes. His collection is fluid, light and full of underwater details. Florence Welch completed the show by singing “That’s what the Water Gave Me.” Chanel never fails in putting on a dramatic show for Karl’s innovative collections.
Sarah Burton created a world of majestic sea goddesses at Alexander McQueen this spring. According to Style.com, “she based her collection on the three Gs: Grès for the pleating and draping, Gaudí for the architecture, and Gaia for the sense of all-encompassing oceanic life that infused the clothes, like the outfits composed of coral or shells.” The shell colored palette brought a feminine touch to this underwater-inspired collection.
Riccardo Tisci for Givency also found inspiration from surfers and mermaids for his spring collection. Exotic materials like eel skin, shark and stingray were used as trimmings on his jackets. Skintight pants were representative of wet suits and shirttails and pelmet belts can be interpreted as fins. He even brought underwater details to his accessories, which included shark tooth pendants.
To view the entire collections and read the full reviews, visit Style.com
