versailles

Chanel

Chanel Resort 2013

With beauty marks shaped like the famous double-C logo affixed to their cheekbones, a bevy of models strolled through the gardens at Versailles to present Chanel's Resort 2013 collection.
Chanel Resort 2013 Runway Versailles Pictures

With beauty marks shaped like the famous double-C logo affixed to their cheekbones, a bevy of models strolled through the gardens at Versailles to present Chanel's Resort 2013 collection.

The rococo embellishments on many of the garments Karl Lagerfeld sent down the runway made it impossible to imagine him showing the collection anywhere else. Floral embroidery accented modernized versions of what French nobles wore to the court of Louis XVI, and many of the looks were paired with pastel-colored flatforms. Derek Blasberg likened the looks to "Marie Antoinette in denim" — an apt description indeed. The monarch wouldn't have looked totally out of place in one of Lagerfeld's denim vests — trimmed as they were, of course, in gold rope.

Dior

Watch: The Full Dior Secret Garden Film

It's finally here — and it's totally gorgeous.



It's finally here — and it's totally gorgeous. Filmed in Versailles by fashion image masters Inez and Vinoodh, Dior's latest film, Secret Garden, features models Daria Strokous, Melissa Stasiuk, and Xiao Wen Ju running like mad through the breathtaking hallways and gardens of the famed chateau. Dressed (and at times also slightly undressed) in the label's pre-Fall 2012 collection, the girls are the picture of elegance, while Depeche Mode's "Enjoy the Silence" provides the perfect, haunting soundtrack.



This isn't the first time the iconic label has used Versailles as inspiration. Christian Dior made direct reference to the palace in several of his first collections, and in 1955 even created an embroidery thread which he dubbed the "Versailles gold braid." In 2007, the house's then designer John Galliano staged the label's 60th anniversary couture show in the palace's Orangerie. More recently, the 2011 Dior J'adore fragrance ad starring Charlize Theron was filmed by Jean-Jacques Annaud in the castle's storied Hall of Mirrors.

See the latest Dior-Versailles endeavor below, and for more Versailles-gorgeousness, see our roundup of Versailles-shot fashion editorials.

Video courtesy of Dior

Chanel

Chanel to Stage Resort 2013 Show at Versailles

>> Karl Lagerfeld has chosen the gardens at the Palace of Versailles as the stage for his next big production: the Chanel Resort 2013 collection.
Chanel Resort 2013 at Versailles

>> Karl Lagerfeld has chosen the gardens at the Palace of Versailles as the stage for his next big production: the Chanel Resort 2013 collection.

The show will be presented on May 14, but other details are still under wraps. Past Chanel Resort shows have been presented in St. Tropez, Los Angeles, and along the French Riviera, and their locations usually speak to the theme of the collection. At Versailles — where the French royal family ruled in extravagance for 100 years before the French Revolution — the only theme that comes to mind is sheer excess.

This isn't the first time Versailles has been used for a show. In 2007, John Galliano rented out the palace for Dior's 60th anniversary couture show, and in 1973, Anne Klein, Stephen Burrows, Halston, Bill Blass, and Oscar de la Renta faced off against couturiers Yves Saint Laurent, Christian Dior, Hubert de Givenchy, Pierre Cardin, and Emanuel Ungaro in a runway spectacle that became known as the Battle of Versailles.

Whether Chanel creates a tribute to Marie Antoinette along the Royal Pathway or shows a decadent collection dripping with diamonds by the Grand Canal, living up to past fashion shows at Versailles will be a tall order — but if anyone is up to the task, it's definitely Lagerfeld. The set for his Spring 2011 Chanel show was based on Versailles's extensive gardens, and he's shot numerous fashion editorials at the palace over the years. Click through to see some of those — along with other Versailles-set shoots — here, in the gallery.