Chanel Goes Global

Karl Lagerfeld is no stranger to the ‘go big or go home’ motto, and this season’s Chanel show was yet another example of the kaiser’s penchant for grand gestures. With models parading around a giant globe speckled with little markers of Chanel store locations, the majestic show was meant to capture the global expansion of the fashion industry – and represent the tremendous double-C empire that Karl Lagerfeld has helped build.
 
Expect to see a version of this sartorially savvy world in every girl’s hand soon, as Lagerfeld designed miniature, handheld versions of the impressive set’s centerpiece – done in transparent lucite and traditionalized with the house’s iconic chain strap – for Chanel’s fall 2013 collection. On the runways in New York, London, Milan and Paris, there has been a general consensus among designers that this fall is about powerful women: businesswomen, schoolgirls, rock n’ roll rebels, and for Chanel, the fashion globetrotter.