A supermarket sweep! Chanel show leaves fashion world in a frenzy

A model peruses the shelves of CC-branded produce on the Chanel 'catwalk' in Paris. Credit: Reuters

For 28 days the fashion world has been watching designers showcase their autumn/winter creations in New York, London, Milan and Paris - with some labels going to extreme measures to capture the attention of the world's media.

Chanel's designer Karl Lagerfeld did just that yesterday, turning Paris' prestigious Grand Palais into a supermarket setting for models with Chanel-customised trolleys and wire baskets to take to the aisles.

Rather than strutting down a catwalk, the likes of Stella Tennant and Cara Delevingne showcased Lagerfeld's designs in the spoof supermarket, where shelves were stacked with Chanel produce, from CC-branded eggs, milk and butter to smoked salmon and caviar.

As well as sending Twitter, Instagram and Facebook users into social media overdrive, fashion editors reportedly lost their cool at the show, with reports claiming that once the models had cleared the aisles, some of the most elite members of the front row took to "looting" the Chanel-stamped goods.

How the fashion world responded to Chanel's supermarket chic:

Luke Leitch, from The Telegraph said: "If one overlooks the looting, [the] Chanel show was easily the most magnificent of all Paris Fashion Week."

Stylist's beauty editor Sam Flowers declared that the fabric infused dreadlock ponytails worn by the models would "go down in history," while the magazine's shopping editor Lucy Reber described the show as a "'Stepford wife inspired world."

A Chanel model pushes a laden trolley during the show. Credit: Reuters

"Strip away the jangly, plastic accoutrements, the kitsch but utterly impractical shopping trolley covered in quilted leather and you had some rather beautiful clothes which would suit women of any age," said The Times' Carolyn Asome.

Models try out the produce in Chanel's spoof supermarket. Credit: Reuters

The New York Times' Suzy Menkes said: "Not since Marie Antoinette played milk maid on her farm at Versailles has there been such a conjunction of high and low."

Chanel-branded products, including water, eggs and stock cubes, filled the 'supermarket' in Paris' Grand Palais. Credit: Reuters

Hitting out at the "looting" after the show, Vogue's Sarah Harris said: "It was the most undignified of scrums where even several esteemed editors thought it appropriate to loot. Temptation and desire is one thing, greed, another."

Dazed's Isabella Burley said: "We spied editors putting onions in their Chanel handbags, and taking bites out of carrots. As we left, Security Guards attempted in vain to recoup the stolen goods."

Keira Knightley attended the show in a Chanel 'optical illusion' dress. Credit: Reuters

"It was arguably his finest runway reimagining to date," said The Guardian's Imogen Fox. "For a designer who has recreated an aeroplane and an iceberg this was quite a feat."

Elle's Rebecca Lowthorpe concluded: "This has got to be Lagerfeld’s most adventurous and spectacular show project to date"