Karl Lagerfeld tweaks the famed Chanel suit each season but for Spring 2017, he is offering a new ultra-feminine silhouette with a high waist and round hips that is bound to win plaudits.

Lagerfeld stated that the inspiration for his new silhouette was Alberto Giacometti’s 1926 Spoon Woman sculpture (above), which can be found at The Metropolitan Museum.

The Spring 2017 haute couture collection opened with a series of tailored tweed suits in icy-pastel (green, yellow, checkered pink, beige and lavender) with structured shoulders, belted and slightly raised waists that accentuate the hips. Hemlines end right above the knee, and some of the skirts have a tulip shape, reinforced by padding on the hips while others were pencil-like or pleated. Dress coats abounded, with officer or lavallière collars.

For evening wear, Chanel offers a glamorous silhouette with sheath dresses enveloped in floor-skimming mirrored embroidery, strips of sequin-embellished lace, or balls of feathers.

The collection also includes draped bustiers embroidered with rhodoid flowers and leaves, big skirts and dresses in tulle with deep and square-cut necklines, marabou boleros, and stoles in tulle, feathers and lace.

Accessories worn during the runway show included titled-back boater hats and high silver court shoes worn with a single faux-pearl anklet. Meanwhile the decor invoked the ambiance of 31, rue Cambon, recalling the mirrors of the grand staircase leading up to the Haute Couture salons. It also recalled the slim-paned mirror screens of the “Party Room” of Syrie Maugham, a British interior designer and art patron who popularized all-white interiors in the 1920s-1930s.

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