Karl Lagerfeld's preseason collections for Chanel usually follow themes tied to the the exotic locations where they're shown. And his Resort 2014 collection, presented in Singapore Thursday, was no exception.
But while this collection drew upon the Southeast Asian city-state's rich history, it didn't telegraph a specifically Asian influence. Perhaps that's because Singapore, which is the world's fourth largest financial center and was for decades a British colony, has always drawn a mix of different influences. It was a global city before globalization — the buzzword of Chanel's last ready-to-wear collection — was a concept.
So this collection, a largely black-and-white affair, was unimpeachably cosmopolitan and drew as much from Chanel's archives as it did from, say, Singapore's infamous heat and multicultural influences. Lagerfeld kept his materials light so that these clothes, like his many raffia dresses and pieces with feather accents, would make sense in warm weather anywhere in the world.
