Close-up of Elisabeth of Bavaria, Empress of Austria by Franz Xaver Winterhalter, 1865 |
Fashion is often the application of history, and the Chanel Pre-Fall 2015 “Paris-Salzburg” presentation is a notable example of this phenomenon. Every year for the pre-fall collection, Chanel head designer Karl Lagerfeld picks a new locale to inspire him and holds a spectacular destination fashion show there. He studies the history and rich culture of these foreign cities and creates collections that are deeply inspired by the landscape and the people. For the 2015 edition, he and his model muses jetted up from Paris to Salzburg, Austria, for a decadent night at the Hotel Schloss Leopoldskron. When it-girls like Lindsey Wixson and Kendall Jenner strutted through the Baroque manor they wore lederhosen and Tyrolean hats that were to be expected from an Austrian-inspired collection, but Lagerfeld was not only inspired by the costumes of the Von Trapp children. His main source of inspiration was the Empress Elisabeth, affectionately known as Sisi, whom he brought back to life for the evening with the help of fellow muse Cara Delevingne.
In the collection's accompanying short film, “Reincarnation”, Delevingne transforms from lowly barmaid to the reincarnation of the Empress herself, in true Cinderella fashion. Singer Pharrell Williams joins her as Emperor Franz Joseph I for a fantastical waltz in the middle of the night as they sing about Sisi and “CC” (as in Coco Chanel and the famous interlocking C logo of the esteemed French fashion house).
It is enchanting to see the empress come alive—and in the form of Cara Delevingne, who seems to be the world’s most talked-about model/actress these days—but one wonders what it is about Empress Elisabeth that so enchanted Karl Lagerfeld, and furthermore, how does his interpretation of the empress influence how modern audiences respond to the monarch?