The CHANEL Iceberg Show: Fantasy Fur and Arctic Chic in 2010 | UK

Begin with the campaign: proportion before spectacle

Seen away from the wet runway, the clothes read as a study in contrast—soft pile against polished leather, compact tailoring against generous winter volume. The campaign film is a useful first look at that quieter side of the collection.

Then the full scale of the Grand Palais iceberg appears

Before the show, Peter Philips’ makeup film offers a close look at the collection’s graphic eye treatment.

The full runway then reveals the iceberg, the water and the collection’s movement at Grand Palais scale.

Giant ice blocks melted into a shallow blue pool as models walked in shaggy boots with transparent sole covers and ice-block heels. Hooded fur jumpsuits opened the show before tweed suits, capes, trousers and leather jackets broadened the Arctic vocabulary.

Fantasy fur was treated as invention, not disguise

Karl Lagerfeld said fake fur had made enormous progress and preferred the more imaginative term “fantasy fur”. CHANEL knitted and wove it into emblematic tweeds, paired it with crystal pins and stalactite-like fringe, and used it to reshape familiar tailoring.

Archive leather jackets make the material story tangible

Selected CHANEL 10A pieces

Red, black & ivory
tweed jacket Black multicolour Lesage
tweed jacket Brown fringe-trim
tweed jacket Black cashmere-wool
knit dress

The wit extended to a quilted CC clutch made to look frozen in ice. More quietly, glacier-toned knits and a finale dress knitted from silk-tulle ribbon to resemble bouclé tweed showed how much technique sat behind the joke.

Today, the most dramatic pieces need very little accompaniment: narrow trousers, dark denim or a clean dress are enough. Fur used only at a cuff or hem offers a subtler route into the collection.