Get tomorrow's 'vintage' today at Chanel couture

Bohemian belles in feathers and sparkling faux-tweed glided past the white wicker tables of an old world spa as Chanel put its own spin on the vintage craze at the Paris haute couture shows Tuesday.

Chanel's designer Karl Lagerfeld took over a disused wing of Paris' Grand Palais exhibition hall - his venue of choice - with a decor of black-and-white sketched doors and a giant fresco meant to suggest a genteel thermal resort.

Chanel Haute Couture AW 2012 / Photo: Pixel Formula

Bejewelled snoods on their hair, Chanel's women stepped out in daysuits of glittering faux tweed, grey with touches of pink, crafted from wool, tulle, wool and pearls and each one some 3,000 hours in the making.

With elongated silhouettes, with skirts cut "a hand above the knee" and slender evening gowns slashed open or cut low at the back, Lagerfeld said the look was a nod to the fashionista appetite for vintage Chanel.

"My own suits from 30 years ago, you can buy them like vintage," he told reporters after the show.

"'New Vintage' is a proposition for something that could last - at least I hope so," he explained. "This is the same attitude, the same spirit, the same name, same concept - but something for our time."

"Vintage - but it's not vintage yet. You can have it before it's vintage!" quipped the spirited German designer. "Plus, 'New Vintage' has a nice ring to it!"

So how long before the new collection can be stamped as vintage, with the prestige and premium that applies? Ten years?

"In fashion the future is six months," Lagerfeld mused.