Couture in a recession: Fantasy vs. reality

"We had too much stuff, too much red carpet, too much bling-bling, too much of everything, and it was like having an upset stomach from eating too many good things," Lagerfeld said about the bubble years that preceded the downturn.

"So then you have to have a big cleanse. It's a refined purge," he told Reuters after the show, wearing a sharp black suit, sunglasses and his trademark studded leather gloves.