The flip-flops on the catwalk were a symbol of how much Chanel has changed. Four years after Virginie Viard took over the house from the late Karl Lagerfeld, Chanel has less pomp and fanfare, and a more informal dress code. That shift reflects both Viard’s own tastes – where Lagerfeld was bedecked in pearls and ruffs, she takes her bow after a show in simple black trousers and a T-shirt – and the casualisation of how the real world gets dressed.
Chanel’s collection for next summer, shown on the last day of Paris fashion week, was made up for the most part of the sort of clothes real women wear on holiday. There were blue jeans and striped T-shirts, towelling beach ponchos over swimsuits, soft jackets worn shrugged open with hands in pockets or loosely belted, like dressing-gowns.
