Karl Lagerfeld reached back to the early years of the House of Chanel for its Spring-Summer haute couture collection, presented at the Musée des Monuments this afternoon, and the results were simply breathtaking.
Gone were the tricks, the fluff, the coquette-like frou-frou that have become distracting clichés at Chanel over the years. Instead, Lagerfeld focused on the pure line of the female form and came up with a smashing collection that was all about the seductive silhouette. For daytime suits, that meant snug short-waist jackets with square shoulders and skinny sleeves, and pretty bell skirts that grazed the knee. The line was further accentuated by his choice of colors -- navy, black, white and Easter egg pastels, in wool and tweed. Not a busy print to be found.

For evening, the look was even more dramatic. The starting point was pre-World War II, Chanel's real heyday. There were 1930s-style Chinese blouses and jackets paired with snug mermaid skirts, often sprinkled with sequins; neo-Edwardian white blouses with ribbon-tied collars and long black skirts that had a trailing sash for a bustle; and a sheer black chiffon sheath with tiers of soft ruffles from the hips downward and flecked with jet beads and sequins.

But leave it to Lagerfeld to take the most retro look and spin it into something defiantly modern, like the traditional ball gown he turned into an exquisite gray chiffon halter top that swagged across the bare back and tumbled down to a champagne taffeta A-line skirt. Finished with witty flat Mary Jane slippers and little round bejeweled purses just large enough to hold a lipstick and a single key, what drifted down the macadam runway before a seaside sunset backdrop could be labeled Nouvelle Mademoiselle.

It was a winning show filled with picture-perfect creations that will surely grace the slim frames of celebrities and socialites from Hollywood to Park Avenue in the very near future.