Crystal Renn for Chanel

After having caused a sensation during the Saint Tropez Chanel escapade last May, the most media-hyped "plus size" model of the fashion world just obtained the favors of Karl Lagerfeld once again. Crystal Renn was the one chosen to pose with Baptiste Giabiconi for a mini ad campaign announcing the reopening of the Chanel boutique in Soho (NYC).

Lagerfeld, particularly attentive to the fluctuations of the times, has made it a point to take a part in all of fashion's mutations for years, even if the latest ones oblige him to repeatedly change his position.

This is how, after having been quoted in 2009 saying, "no one wants to see round women (in fashion)" in an interview for the German magazine, Focus, he has become one of the first - with Jean Paul Gaultier - to have a so-called "plus size" model pose for a normal ad campaign today.

To tell the truth, as erudite and inaccessible as he can be, Lagerfeld seems to like nothing more than to make fun of his own character, even taking a malicious pleasure in playing on his contradictions. He may usually prefer little twigs like Freja Beha, but if the world wants curves, he will give them curves.

This being said, the amplitude of his "sacrifice" should be reassessed. Lagerfeld might be boosting himself by creating a mini buzz around the presence of Renn in his Chanel campaign, but that does not mean that it is her curves that are being showcased - Renn's angular face in fact reveals nothing of her size 10 body.

Cleverly playing on two sides, Lagerfeld wins on both: he officially supports the current infatuation with "plus sizes," yet does not associate Chanel with a silhouette more voluptuous than usual.

In a recent interview, Renn declared, "Karl is a genius." A genius of fashion? Probably. A genius of marketing? Most definitely.