Chanel Pre-Fall 2010 Handbag — Photography courtesy of Chanel

Chanel’s craziest handbags: 22 pictures of ice boxes, perfume bottles and more!

By FASHION Staff

Date May 16, 2014

Copy link

For the past few years, Karl Lagerfeld has made sure each new Chanel collection (and there are many) is cemented into fashion history---first, with stellar clothes, and second, with bags so cheekily out of the box that we can’t help but be spellbound. In addition to the brand’s iconic 2.55, Boy and classic quilt, Chanel has created a tongue-and-cheek handbag ode to pop culture with each season, his latest being the wildest of all.

Tipping his hat to Dubai’s economic past and present, the Chanel designer debuted a quilted, golden, double C-incrusted, oil can handbag. The bag was responsible for its fair share of commentary, offending some while resonating with others. It’s no secret that oil was, at one time, a pillar in Dubai’s economy. Was Lagerfeld alluding to a connection between oil and wealth in the main city of the emirate?

How deeply you read into the designs is up to you (and your shopping habits) but there’s been a fairly clear narrative throughout recent Chanel handbag history---gold-plated consumerism in 2006, global warming in the shape an ice block bag in 2010 and now, Middle East economic prowess in one quilted oil can.

Page through this look back at Chanel’s craziest handbags of the last few years. We can promise it won’t be boring.