PARIS (Reuters) - Coco Chanel was raiding her boyfriend's wardrobe as far back as the 1930s, and on Friday her successor Karl Lagerfeld unveiled a boxy tweed jacket that aims to be fashion's equivalent to 501 jeans or unisex perfume.
Male and female models paraded in interchangeable blazers in giant tartan tweed or knobbly wool with a glistening black trim.
"Coco filched a lot from men's dressing rooms," Lagerfeld said in a statement.
"Some men -- and I should say, boys -- could wear some of these clothes just as they wear lots of things today which have abandoned the frontiers between menswear and womenswear."
However, it is no easy feat to subvert the iconic Chanel jacket, which conjures images of starlets and dowagers alike. There was something undeniably fey about the teenage boys in suit jackets that could have belonged to their mother.
Fortunately, there was plenty more to pick from in the display on the third day of the Paris autumn-winter ready-to-wear collections, which was also due to feature creations by Givenchy and Alexander McQueen.
Lagerfeld gave skiwear a chic twist for day and dressed down evening clothes with a sportswear touch.
A black puffa jacket came with detachable jacquard sleeves and a matching knitted camellia brooch. Geometric patterns popped up on loosely cut tweed skirt suits with matching newsboy caps.
Splashes of bold color included a fluorescent yellow poloneck sweater, worn under a lacy black blouse with skintight leather ski trousers that may not cut it on the slopes, but were perfect for apres-ski posing.
Meanwhile, slinky black evening gowns were given little pockets in front -- just big enough for a stick of lip balm.