Of all the things Couture fashion week can be accused of, a reality check is not one of them. Rarely does an event so spenny it could make an oligarch blush be accused of moving with the times. When designers at this prestigious Parisian showcase present jeans we say ‘wow, how modern’. But, when Karl Lagerfeld made the historic move this week of closing his show with a bridal look worn by a woman of colour, sadly this was a landmark occassion.
Each year, Chanel closes its Couture catwalk show with a model handpicked by Kaiser Karl who gets the great honour of wearing a wedding dress. Previous Chanel brides include Kendall Jenner, Cara Delevingne and Alek Wek (in 2004). Since Wek, there’s been a lull with no WoC cast in this role, until Sudanese model Adut Akech Bior who made fashion history this week as the second ever Chanel bride. It's 2018 - how has it taken this long to get this base level of diversity and representation?
‘Wow where do I even begin. After opening the last Chanel cruise show, I honestly didn’t think it could get any better but I was wrong because I just closed this one,’ the model wrote on Instagram. ‘There is no amount of words that can express what this moment means to me. The beauty of having a dream, is watching it come to life.’
For the final look, Bior wore a mint green (are we still calling this neo green?) skirt suit with heavy embellishment and an abbreviated veil.