Chanel shows mismatched hems and flip-flops at Paris Fashion Week

PARIS: Chanel designer Virginie Viard unveiled a breezy, warm-weather collection in Paris on a drizzly Tuesday, showcasing a colourful lineup of asymmetric styles, paraded by models in flip-flops and thick-framed glasses.

The audience, including actress Penelope Cruz, singer Usher and Blackpink singer Jennie Kim, sat in box-like rooms with large windows looking out on life-size photographs of the scrub-filled hills of the French Riviera.

The models cut through the centre of the sprawling space of the Grand Palais Ephemere exhibit hall in central Paris, parading tweed skirt sets with uneven hems, patchwork ensembles and lightweight dresses that trailed down in the back.

Adding to the collection’s nonchalant air, a swimsuit was worn with a cape, relaxed jeans were dressed up with a slender, rhinestone belt and a tweed jacket, and sleeves on dresses were sliced open to cover shoulders in a cape-like fashion.

The show took place on the last day of Paris Fashion Week, which has drawn crowds of industry press and celebrities to the French capital, topping off a season of runway presentations that also took place in New York, London and Milan.