The ever-onward Karl Lagerfeld is not inclined to the backward glance. So in a season when everyone else is doing their version of the 1980 s, a decade he helped define, it made perfect sense that he was focused on the 2080 s—or, OK, at least the future. The metal-machine music of Metronomy introduced a collection whose thrust was technology and architecture. The models wore fur helmets with inset iPods (cushioning against the crash?), and Lagerfeld referred to the built-out shoulder that defined the silhouette as "the bridge."
As ever, this signature line was defined by a handful of branded elements: a leanness accentuated by the skinniest pants in Paris; a masculine, even military, hardness; a hint of the Vienna Secession in draped, black-velvet-banded eveningwear. This time, however, those "bridge" shoulders added a warrior-woman edge. And the long, languid line that formerly characterized the Lagerfeld label was replaced by a more structured look in short-sleeved jackets and skirts in silvered tweeds and mélange fabrics. But even Karl couldn t completely avoid an echo of everyone else s eighties. A square-shouldered, severely tailored black suit was right out of the closet of Rachael the Replicant from Blade Runner, 1982 s definitive style guide. Interestingly, it was one of the show s more persuasive looks.
