Chanel's New Collection, Contrastes

Orpheus inspires Chanel's new line.  Orpheus played so beautifully that rocks and beasts came to him.  His music moved Hades to agree to let Eurydice, Orpheus' love, return to life if Orpheus refrained from looking at back at her during their return to the world.  He failed; she did not return.  Heartbroken, he wandered restlessly until he was torn apart by drunken nymphs who threw his head into a river.  His head floated down the river, singing tragically, until it was properly buried, freeing his spirit to join Eurydice.   Chanel's new collection,  Contrastes, hints at the myth's duality, tragedy, and mystery, while visually representing the power of Orpheus' lyre to alter the world and imbue it with magic created by beauty.  While the collection primarily adheres to Chanel's traditional black and white palate, it is anything but predictable.