Chanel Staged A Feminist March for Its Spring Show

Chanel Staged A Feminist March for Its Spring Show:

"Boulevard Chanel," constructed within the Grand Palais, was host to Karl Lagerfeld's feminism themed runway. Photo: Rindoff/Dufour/French Select/Getty Images

There's been a lot of talk about fashion and feminism lately. Are feminists “allowed” to like fashion? Can fashion be feminist? These are not new questions, but ones that come to the forefront every decade or so. Nonetheless, Karl Lagerfeld answered them with a resounding "yes" this morning: His band of celebrity models parading down “Boulevard Chanel” — constructed within the Grand Palais — holding signs scribbled with phrases like, “Be Your Own Stylist,” “Ladies First,” “Free Freedom” and “Make Fashion Not War.”

There is little doubt that fashion can be political. But the message today seemed to be more personal than that. Many of the models — who wore seventies-tinged looks, in tandem with an era when women were arguably more open ardent about their feminism — were put in pairs, chatting as they walked down the runway-cum-boulevard. There was a power in Gisele’s stripe-knit sweater, in Kendall’s leather-strip dress, a pink suede leisure suit, or a gold leather bomber. But it was the power of sticking together that seemed to be the big idea.