Channel Evoked the late '80s and early '90s for Spring Summer 2022 Collection in PFW

On Tuesday, French fashion house Channel showcased their SS/22 collection in Paris Fashion Week. Typically the collection was an ode to fashion shows. All the designs were inspired by the late '80 and early '90s. “I used to love the sound of flashbulbs going off at the shows in the ’80s,” designer Virginie Viard recalled in from the Chanel show notes. “I wanted to recapture that emotion.” So this season Viard attempted to channel that energy and joy in a collection that not only referenced the era in the clothes, staging, and accessories (purses shaped like N°5 bottles; piratically flared Louis heels), but even the soundtrack: Witness George Michael’s anthemic “Freedom! ’90”—in a contemporary cover version by Christine and the Queens—getting the models in the party spirit. The show also opened à la Karl Lagerfeld—who sent shock waves when he put Chanel-branded underwear as outerwear on the runway for spring 1993—with a black-and-white sequence of briefs, swimsuits, and sports bras, occasionally veiled in spangled black net pants or shown with above-the-knee skirts. “Karl was always doing fake jeans,” recalled Viard, shuddering at the memory. “In the ’90s they always seemed to be with pink tweed—ugh! For me, it was horrible then, but now j’adore!”

Check out the pics from the collection here: