At 3pm, 25 January 1983, in the salons of 31 rue Cambon, Karl Lagerfeld presented his first ever collection for Chanel. The intimate group of industry members who were in attendance waited with curiosity, some with cynicism, wondering how Lagerfeld (who had previously shone at Chloé and Fendi) might possibly approach the problem of Chanel. “People tend to forget that once upon a time, Chanel was old hat,” Lagerfeld said in hindsight, according to Patrick Mauriès in his preface to Chanel Catwalk. “It was only Parisian doctors’ wives who still wore it. Nobody wanted it, it was hopeless…”

The opening looks of that spring/summer 1983 haute couture show set the tone of Lagerfeld’s creative direction for the brand. A tricolore of suits with braiding on the edges were appropriated with rebellion: tiny waists, huge shoulders, emblazoned with “CC”s, chains, fringe. Each of the house’s heritage codes were defiantly thrown in your face and imbued with the Lagerfeld iconoclasm that we’re all familiar with today.

And it’s this signature flair that makes us so excited for Chanel Catwalk, a new monograph by Thames & Hudson and a hefty 630-page ride through every single collection Lagerfeld has presented for Chanel. Ever.

With the dawn of the internet generation, it often seems that recent fashion has been exhaustively documented, and much of fashion predating the 2000s has been lost. In the case of Chanel, we’re all familiar with the Instagram-worthy moments of the airplane, the casino, the street protest, hoola-hoop handbags and cereal “made with real Coco”. One might forget that these exquisitely histrionic worlds have been going on for two decades, far predating this internet archive.

The theatre inherent to Lagerfeld’s Chanel makes this monograph a fascinating read. Opulent, witty, indulgently Parisian, it highlights the most riotous moments, with accompanying text: “Coco meets James Dean”, “Couture Denim”, “Candy Land”, a section on quilting that highlights a pair of winter gloves resembling yellow oven mitts. Full of vivid splash pages and dizzying compositions of images, we love this book for recreating the wildly immersive experience of a classic Lagerfeld show.

Chanel Catwalk (£48) is available to purchase online at Thames & Hudson. Dress and bracelet, both Chanel AW16.

Text by Kinza Shenn