Chanel at Harrods (London, UK)

Anyone who's spent the last two weeks in London, might have caught the Chanel takeover at Harrods, which saw the luxury label occupy the department store's front facing windows, as well as over 20,000 sq ft of retail space. If you missed the extravaganza, fear not, because I'm finally posting a recap of this installation here.

Part of the Chanel windows at Harrods.

The first part of the collaboration consisted of some very elaborate windows, which brought Chanel's FW11/12 collection to life. The forest fairytale theme came complete with an army of woodland animals (all taxidermy and thus very real) and iconic Chanel bling housed in smaller display units. All of this would have probably been best viewed at night, but hopefully you'll get the idea from the images below.

A small selection of the Chanel windows. All animals featured in the windows died of natural causes.

The fun continued inside, where parts of the ground floor were transformed into a Chanel pop-up boutique, where the magical forest theme continued. In addition to the regular treasures, such as the 2.55 bags, perfumes and jewelry, shoppers also had a chance to buy exclusive cosmetic items and the special edition green shopping bag.

Mannequins in the magical forest (left) and some very coveted trinkets (right).

The second part of the pop-up focused on bags and perfume.

The iconic lion's head adorned all the walls (left) and the famous Harrods bag interpreted by Chanel (right).

The most impressive part of the event however, was the third-floor installation Une Promenade - "a contemporary excursion into the enchanted world of Chanel". Like Alice stepping through the looking glass, visitors could explore the universe of Coco and Karl in an almost surreal setting.

Passing through a curtain of giant pearl strands, I found myself in a camellia garden adorned with various Chanel items, including rubber wellies near the grass and high-end jewelry in glass cases.

The next room saw me literally step into a 2.55 bag, where the walls were lined with supple red leather and a wall of videos showed each step of the creative process involved in crafting the purses.

By contrast, the children's bedroom was whimsical and bright, filled with toys that included the famed Harrods teddy bear - decked out in Chanel of course.

The adjoining Haute Couture room was a reconstruction of Coco's apartment on 31 rue Cambon and came complete with giant dress boxes, mirrored walls and mannequins wearing the exquisite gowns.

Entering the world of Karl Lagerfeld, I was greeted by his Studio 7L (which is also a book store in Paris)... and a cut-out Karl.

For a dose of pop-art, the next space dedicated to the iconic No.5 perfume included art work and a giant bottle with an interior screen displaying some of the more memorable TV commercials.

Ever thought the 2.55 bag could be a tad bigger? The next installation featured a larger-than-life quilted bag, embellished with famous Chanel symbols and a jacket to match.

Finally, the tweed room was dedicated to Chanel's jacket fabric of choice, which lined the walls and floor of the area. The wall art featured chalk sketches of the current jacket models.

While the Chanel special is no longer on, you can of course still shop the luxury label at Harrods and various other stores around the world. But the question remains... what will they do with the giant quilted bag and all the cute Chanel dolls? I'll have to find out...