Entertainment

Stars swept away by spectacular Chanel fashion show featuring cruise ship

Kristen Stewart, Ralph Fiennes and Margot Robbie were in Paris for the nautical show by Karl Lagerfeld.
Kristen Stewart, Ralph Fiennes and Margot Robbie were in Paris for the nautical show by Karl Lagerfeld. Kristen Stewart, Ralph Fiennes and Margot Robbie were in Paris for the nautical show by Karl Lagerfeld.

Celebrity guests at Chanel’s event in Paris have been treated to a spectacular fashion show featuring a massive cruise ship complete with steaming funnels.

Kristen Stewart, Ralph Fiennes and Margot Robbie all craned their necks up in awe at the creaking, 330ft (100m) cruise liner inside the city’s Grand Palais.

It was the decor for Chanel’s annual Cruise collection on Thursday night in which designer Karl Lagerfeld created a spectacle worthy of a movie.

The show saw the larger-than-life 84-year-old continue to defy expectations in fashion show spending — after earlier shows produced a recreated Eiffel Tower, a space rocket, a supermarket and a forest.

“The bar has been set very high … The set design in itself blew me away,” said Ms Robbie.

“It’s amazing, but it doesn’t surprise me. This is Karl’s genius and imagination,” said model Lily-Rose Depp.

“Everything is just so realistic — down to the light that looks like water, and the smoke and the stars.”

The ship took two months to create with an exterior in plywood and a steel hull.

The gargantuan vessel — named La Pausa after Coco Chanel’s French villa — was brought to life by lighting mimicking ocean waves and the sound of seagulls.

The sea theme infused the clothes, which were all about the nautical stripe.

Chic baggy pants opened the show, sporting optical black-and-white lines.

The motif was based on the razzle-dazzle designs painted on US and British warships from the First World War. The stripes appeared down layered sleeves on two-piece skirts and in technicolor across white sporty dresses.

Styles from the 60s were key in the relaxed 87-piece collection. White berets paired with exposed midriffs, miniskirts and loose white sweaters with a retro bateau collar. Mary Janes – one-strap shoes – were also given a cool reworking.

Ms Robbie – who boasts a recent Academy Award nomination for I, Tonya and has been named a Chanel brand ambassador – used this trip to learn more about the Parisian couture house.

“First, I went to the archives and really got to understand the brand on a whole new level and understand, really learn about Coco Chanel’s story, and how it influenced her designs,” she said.

Ms Stewart came to the Paris show en route to this month’s Cannes Film Festival in southern France where she will serve as a jury member.

“Cannes is a place that values the reason why people make movies, that aligns with the reason that I do,” said the 28-year-old Twilight star. “I feel like a little kid walking into something I’m not allowed.”

The ship, which conjured up images of the French Riviera, also bowled her over.

“Their shows are always like walking into a very elaborate dream,” she said.

After the show, VIP guests filed through the gangplanks into the ship’s hull for the after-party and baptised the ship in Champagne until the small hours.