Check Out Chanel's Exotic Pre-Fall 2012 Collection

With luxe fabrics, metallic saris, jeweled headpieces, and Chanel's signature tweed, Karl Lagerfeld transported his Pre-Fall Paris spectators to colonial India. Rest assured, this collection is free of over-the-top Bollywood clichés, instead offering up imperial references in its homage to Bombay. While it highlights Chanel's expertise — suiting, ladylike dressing, rich texture, and layers of pretty pearls — it all marries perfectly with a beautiful departure to a more exotic aesthetic. Revealing that "most of the inspiration is from Indian men’s clothes rather than women’s clothes," Lagerfeld's parade of dresses and skirts over pants, gold-embroidered tunics, beaded sandals, and flat booties speaks both to bohemian decadence and wearability.

• Trends: Dresses over pants, metallics, bohemian.
• Colors: Black, white, gold, silver, and gunmetal metallics; a splash of fuchsia, blue, and pink.
• Key Look: The cropped white button-down with the white draped skirt over pants, the silver and gold saris.
• Accessories: Layered beaded necklace, headpieces, nose rings, bangles, green and brown quilted crossbody bags, embellished sandals, metallic booties, black-and-white booties, ties.
• Who Would Wear It: The refined bohemian and Chanel fans, Freida Pinto, Kate Bosworth, Alexa Chung.

Source: Check Out Chanel's Exotic Pre-Fall 2012 Collection