123,670 Embellishments and Nearly 1,000 Hours of Work: The Jaw-Dropping Details of Chanel��s Iridescent Couture Gown

Beauty

123,670 Embellishments and Nearly 1,000 Hours of Work: The Jaw-Dropping Details of Chanel��s Iridescent Couture Gown

Chanel couture gallery

Pretty?is the word that comes to mind when you flip through Chanel Spring 2018 Couture. Pastel tweed suits, feather-trimmed coats, shimmering gowns��as?Vogue��s Sarah Mower put it, the show embodied ��what couture season in Paris used to be: a breath of spring wrapped in a prettiness designed to lure customers to Chanel HQ on the Rue Cambon.�� While a fountain in the middle of the runway might qualify as grandiose for other designers, for Karl Lagerfeld, it was subdued; consider his waterfall set for Spring 2018 or Resort 2018��s Greek ruins. The manicured garden was straightforwardly beautiful, as were the clothes��particularly the iridescent pastel gowns that appeared near the end. Kaia Gerber��s weightless feathered minidress was arguably the most Instagrammed look of the day, but it��s Grace Elizabeth��s gown you may soon see on a red carpet.

Chanel��s atelier shared a few special details about the dress exclusively with?Vogue. Comprised of a bejeweled, almost-sporty tank and dropped-waist tulle skirt, it features a jaw-dropping amount of work: For starters, there��s a whopping 123,670 embellishments. The top alone includes 40,000 beads, 5,650 stones and Swarovski pearls, and 74,300 sequins and required 820 hours of meticulous work by Chanel��s?petites mains. Zooming in, you��ll notice the embellishments are so densely embroidered��and some of them are so tiny��that it��s hard to see where they end and begin. Look closer, and the skirt has a subtle luster, too; 440 Swarovski crystals are scattered throughout.

Even the low-heeled ankle boots were hand-embellished with 11,880 beads and 122,500 sequins. They looked refreshingly walkable with such an ultra-haute gown. Above, see Chanel��s exclusive photos from backstage (where photographers are rarely permitted to shoot) and a few snaps of Elizabeth��s final fitting, then revisit all of our couture coverage on Vogue Runway.