CHANEL 97A: Russian Art, Tweed Jackets & Karen Elson【1997 FW】 | HK

CHANEL 97A opens in deep brown, navy and black, then reveals red and pink yarns, embroidery and touches of glass. Its richness is discovered gradually rather than announced at first glance.

此系列以深棕、海軍藍與黑色為基調，再加入紅粉色紗線、刺繡與玻璃光澤；越靠近觀看，越能發現豐富層次。

Karl Lagerfeld brought Russian art and folklore into a streamlined late-1990s silhouette, balancing warmth, structure and a subtle futuristic edge.

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CHANEL 97A and Russian Art: ‘Coco Goes to Moscow’

The phrase associated with the season was “Coco goes to Moscow.” Rather than reproduce folk dress literally, the collection lifts colour, yarn, flowers and geometric motifs and folds them into the CHANEL vocabulary.

「Coco goes to Moscow」並非直接複製民族服飾，而是把俄羅斯藝術的色彩、花卉與幾何圖案轉化為CHANEL語彙。

Dimensional red and brown trims, pompom-like accents and painterly colour sit against remarkably controlled jacket lines. The sense of handwork remains warm, but the effect is urban and precise.

CHANEL Tweed Jackets: Embroidery, Texture and Clean Lines

What makes 97A distinctive is the way ornament and restraint occupy the same garment. Textured tweeds and knits meet clean fronts, open shapes and zips, allowing substantial materials to feel lighter and more modern.

97A把富有表情的粗花呢與針織，放進簡潔前身、開襟和拉鍊輪廓；深棕、橄欖綠與海軍藍讓紅色紗線更顯鮮明。

Chocolate brown, olive, navy and black provide depth. Against them, red yarn and multicolour details read like small points of light rather than decoration for its own sake.

From Day to Evening: The Light Inside a CHANEL Jacket

The jacket remains central: a controlled waist, a clear line from shoulder to hem and the traditional chain that helps the silhouette hold its shape. Yarn edging and pearl-like buttons bring daytime suiting closer to evening dress.

粗花呢外套保留清晰腰線、肩至下襬的俐落輪廓與下襬鍊，再以紗線飾邊和珍珠感鈕扣連結日裝與晚裝。

A jacket from the season in The Metropolitan Museum of Art combines metallic thread and glass. It shows that the brilliance of 97A extends beyond tweed, and how Lagerfeld layered new materials onto an established CHANEL form.

Karen Elson’s CHANEL 97A Memory at Eighteen

Karen Elson was eighteen when Karl Lagerfeld noticed her during this period. A navy dress from around 1997 that she later kept carries small reddish appliqués; Vogue subsequently described the motif as inspired by Kandinsky.

Karen Elson在18歲時受到Karl Lagerfeld注意；她保留的約1997年海軍藍洋裝，其紅色小貼花後來被Vogue介紹為受到Kandinsky啟發。

A large cultural reference becomes a small shift of colour and texture. That quiet confidence is one reason CHANEL 97A still feels immediate today.