In Paris, Chanel lights the rocket under a new space race

A 35-metre-tall rocket that lifted off the pad at the Grand Palais at the climax of Paris fashion week was a reminder that no one can match Karl Lagerfeld for blockbuster creative firepower

Space travel stands for many things – the future, bravery, wonder, touching the very edges of what it means to be human – but, on the last day of Paris fashion week, what it represented above all was supremacy. Just as the space race was a way for superpowers to flex their muscles with the world watching, a 35-metre-tall rocket – which launched 10 metres into the air – was Karl Lagerfeld’s way of reminding the audience that no one in fashion can match Chanel for blockbuster creative firepower. Lagerfeld remains the master of this universe.