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While the location of Chanel's fall/winter and spring/summer runway shows remains a constant from season to season — that would be the Grand Palais in Paris — Karl Lagerfeld has led editors and buyers all over the world for the brand's cruise and pre-fall shows. They've been to cities like Rome, Seoul, Salzburg, Dubai, Dallas, and now, Havana.
Less than 24 hours after the Met Gala wound down, showgoers gathered in the Cuban capital on Tuesday evening to take in Chanel's cruise 2017 presentation. The collection's nods to Havana included dresses printed with vintage cars, cigar box-shaped handbags, fedoras, and graphic ringer tees with the phrase "Viva Coco Libre."
Lagerfeld may be one of the industry's most formidable tastemakers, but he was running solidly with the pack when he announced the choice to stage the show in Havana last October. In the months after President Obama ordered the restoration of diplomatic relations between Cuba and the U.S. in December 2014, a historic event that took place the following July, a number of fashion magazines capitalized on the moment by shooting editorials in the communist nation. Chanel's runway show, of course, is the most visible and impactful example of fashion's recent interactions with Cuba.