The Verdict: So Karl Lagerfeld turned Chanel’s Spring/Summer 2012 runway into an underwater paradise. Bits of seashells and corals dangled from the bags, and few models were spotted carrying what appeared to be pearlised conch shells and beaded conch shell clutches. While the conch shell clutches certainly reflected the underwater theme, how does one use a conch for a clutch. I mean, how do you even retrieve your things from it? I get the whole beaded one. But the pearlised conch shell (last pic)… I’m wondering whether it’s really a clutch, or whether it’s just a mere prop that the models are carrying, much like the transparent cases from last year’s S/S collection. And for the other bags… I mean.. I really don’t get the whole bundled up quilted bags with chain straps. For one, who would abuse that luxurious leather in that way, and second, it really looks like a Chanel lunchbox bag, a super-luxe one that is. Yes I am fully aware that you’re not really supposed to twist the chain around like so, but I mean, even the design with its overlapping leather bits, really remind me of the way in which the Japanese bundle up their lunchboxes in cloth. And even that is done in a much neater manner.

Photos via Style.comCha