What Happens When Chanel Meets 50 Shades

Chanel is one of the few designer brands that the mumsy grandmother who lives next door and you can agree upon. Worn one way, those tweed jackets, cap-toed shoes, and pearl necklaces can look like the dress code for a country club's octogenarian mixer. Wear them another way, and you can look like...well, you: fresh, modern, and all about the mix. During yesterday's Métiers d'Art collection in Rome, Chanel blended it all — the old and new, the lace tights and the leather chokers — in one very cool hybrid.

Black lace tights haven't been in fashion for a long time, and especially worn with the high-necked, frilled dresses; three-piece suits, and elbow gloves, they took on a Miss Havisham vibe. But all that frilliness was tempered by the leather belts and chokers featuring BDSM-ish O-rings. These harness-type accessories have been trending hard lately thanks to contemporary leatherworkers like Zana Bayne, and we normally wouldn't think to wear them with something as precious as lace. But done right (a.k.a. the Chanel way), lace tights and leather chokers don't have to look like the cover of a supermarket bodice-ripper. Click through to see how Chanel styled this odd couple on the runway.