Less than 24 hours after Karl Lagerfeld’s Chanel Resort extravaganza, words flowed like oil from a barrel about the Chanel gallon tube bags, which debuted on last night’s ephemeral, desert island runway. On the whole, Instagram commentators leaned towards branding Lagerfeld’s wink to the UAE’s oil industry as being offensive and inspiring enough “thumbs down” to kill a gladiator. Some readers wished that fashion’s hardest-working octogenarian had delved deeper into the Emirate’s rich culture (and he did—to quote Style.com’s Tim Blanks, the clothes “left the impression of something you might actually imagine a hundred years ago.”). But, like it or not, the money driving Dubai’s booming tourism industry, consumption-obsessed culture, and jaw-dropping skyline didn’t come from the trees, it came from below the Earth’s surface, in liquid form. So, lighten up, have a laugh, and the next time you hand over 100 AED (roughly US $27) to fuel up your Black Bess Bugatti, consider reaching into a Chanel Resort 2015 Premium petrol purse to do so.
