The exhibit premiered in Hong Kong in March, traveled to Tokyo and will spend three weeks in New York ( till Nov 9th), before heading off to London, Moscow and Paris.

Ambitious brand marketing to say the least.

The building which resembles a spaceship, will house the work of 20 cutting edge artists , such as Yoko Ono, Pierre et Gilles, & Sophie Calle, whom were given a brief to create works based around Chanel’s back catalogue of iconic handbags. This involved first being given a tour of Coco Chanel’s apartment in Paris and of the workshops in Verneil where the bags are handmade. “The idea was to cross their creative universe with the cult of Chanel and of the Chanel bags,” says Bruno Pavlosky, Chanel fashion president. The link between contemporary artists and Chanel is long-standing, according to Mr. Pavlosky. Coco Chanel was a patron of artists, a tradition that Chanel has maintained by featuring art in its boutiques. “Creativity is the fuel, it’s the engine of our brand,” Mr. Pavlosky says.