Chanel goes aquatic in PVC waders

Karl Lagerfeld built a huge waterfall and flooded the vast Grand Palais for his spectacular Chanel show Tuesday on the final day of Paris Fashion Week.

The veteran designer sent out an army of "water nymphs" and modish mermaids in glittering white and blue-green outfits along a catwalk that snaked over a 85-metre-long recreation of the Gorges du Verdon in the mountains of Provence, where Chanel grows the jasmine and May rose flowers that go into its perfumes.

This was the life aquatic with big raindrop earrings, scalloped skirts, jellyfish and glitterball bags and dripping mother of pearl dresses that created their own personal rainbows in the shimmering light.

Yet the thing that no one could take their eyes off were the thigh-high transparent PVC boots.

If the Duchess of Cambridge or Kim Kardashian ever need to look elegant when they go fishing for trout, Lagerfeld has just the waders for them.

In fact the German-born creator went PVC crazy, throwing in enough see-through rain hats, hoods and even elbow length evening gloves to keep his well-heed customers dry during a hurricane.

- Karl goes for Generation Z -

Scared of being caught by a sudden summer shower in your $10,000 dress?

Lagerfeld had just the thing -- plastic see-through crystal-encrusted raincoats and capes, although much more sophisticated and expensive than the ones your granny would slip into her trolley bag on a thundery day.

Like Balenciaga, the other aristocratic brand that this week sought to bring Crocs sandals rapidly upmarket, Lagerfeld too seemed out on a mission to rehabilitate the much maligned see-though mac.

Led by Cindy Crawford's 16-year-old daughter Kaia Gerber, Lagerfeld defied talk about his advanced age by sending out 88 looks -- which may or not have been a sly joke about his age.

The creator, who sometimes admits to being 84, was embracing youth in a big way, with a collection aimed strongly at millennials and Generation Z trendsetters as much as Chanel's ladies-who-lunch custom base.

Lagerfeld was even thinking ahead to Generation Alpha by putting his eight-year-old godson Hudson Kroenig -- who made his catwalk debut way back in 2012 -- on the runway. 

With an eye clearly on Chanel's growing Asian following he had two huge South Korean K-pop stars, G-Drago  -- sporting fire-engine red hair -- and actress and singer Park Shin-Hye in the front row alongside supermodel mother Crawford blushing with pride.

Agnes b, an institution of a more understated idea of French chic who also has a huge Asian fanbase, stuck to dry land in her show.

Her spring summer collection featured a line of highly practical safari suits and striking print dresses, trousers and shorts suits to lift her classic black and white combos which this time included a black, white and sky-blue print wedding dress.