KRISTEN STEWART

“I love Germany. It’s the first time I have been to Karl’s hometown Hamburg but I find the country’s stark confronting approach to communication in general really gratifying. It’s easy for me to communicate here and I think this spirit is reflected in all of its art history as well as its contemporary culture.

I think the cyclical nature of things always has to be acknowledged and a feeling that you have has always been felt before but I think Karl, who definitely represents for me the confrontational spirit I admire so much in German culture, is always striving to take things forward creatively while remaining true to the heritage of Chanel.

It’s about putting your finger on it and describing it and then touching people with it and I think that Karl is very good at doing that. On the one hand you know something is Chanel because it is so quintessential yet you never feel like you have actually seen it before. On the contrary you tend to ask yourself how Karl has managed to make it surprising and relevant again. In a similar way I like how the architecture of the Elbphilharmonie moves and adheres and after hearing the orchestra play earlier this evening in the main auditorium, the design and the acoustics are evidently superbly performative, yet the interior reminds me of a Japanese Zen garden.

The through line of the collection itself made so much sense to me. If one woman embodied all of those looks, it is someone who does not rely on any one other than themselves, The practicality of the clothes appealed to me while still remaining so beautiful—I loved the suits and tuxedos. The collection stood on its own resolutely as a coherent whole. There was a delicacy naturally to some of the pieces and the work of the ateliers was superb as always but to me it seemed that whoever would wear these clothes does not need any help!”

Kristen Stewart