Games and Favors

Held at the Wynn Las Vegas resort, the weekend affair celebrated the opening of an eight-day on-site exhibition called "Numéros Privés." The 7,000-square-foot installation was built near the Tower Suite entrance in a space formerly occupied by the restaurant Alex. On January 20, the 200 invited guests entered the exhibit through a narrow hallway flanked by custom walls trimmed in neon lights.

Surrounded by camellia trees, the promenade area was redone as a garden space, reminiscent of Jean Cocteau's classic La Belle et la Bête. The room highlighted Chanel's fine jewelry collection alongside flowers that shone with diamonds.

After walking through the promenade, guests entered the first room, a spacious children's bedroom filled with dolls designed by Karl Lagerfeld as well as the other projects, works, and sketches from the designer.

Another vignette evoked the brand's more graphic side, showcasing a colorful and loud era through a game of lights and sounds. Music and noises were mixed with luminous projections of snowflakes and numbers, while hourglasses counting time adorned the walls. The floor, covered with a drawing of a clock face, was intended to remind guests of the Chanel J12 watch.

Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel's apartment at 31 Rue Cambon was recreated in the haute couture section. To reflect a never-ending succession of images, the fashion house installed the designer's famous Coromandel screens and tall mirrors. Additionally, dresses were displayed under glass, on mannequins, and in the cases used to deliver couture dresses to clients.

The idea of the exhibition was to showcase the different Chanel house codes. As well as allowing guests to move from one room to the next, the passageways also provided a way to distinguish between the displays. One narrow hall led to an art installation of over-size Chanel handbags.

While all the rooms were meticulously planned, none was as popular as the space that housed old-school carnival claw games. Rather than plush toys and candy, the machines held small items, like lipsticks and jewelry, in Chanel gift bags.

Guests also had the opportunity to take a playful look at the fashion house's most iconic symbols, the lion, the clover leaf, the double intersecting Cs, the number five, and the perfume bottle. The pop art room was marked by silk-screened images of the Chanel No. 5 bottle.

To give visitors an inside look at how the Chanel 2.55 bag is made, a futuristic airlock chamber was designed to feel like the inside of the product. With walls lined in leather, digital displays, and a wall of videos showing each step in the creative process (including the sounds from the workshop), the room offered a sensory, mechanical, and aesthetic take on one of the brand's most emblematic creations.

As a reference to the pearls adored by Coco Chanel, the producers hung curtains of white beads at various points throughout the exhibit, including around the accessories vitrine.

Stepping through the beaded curtain, guests could view rare and special Chanel accessories and jewelry displayed inside gilded bird cages.

Adding an air of whimsy along the walls were Karl Lagerfeld's sketches showcasing his designs from past seasons.

To animate the "Numéros Privés" exhibit, Chanel employed model dancers to wear its designs in a fashion-meets-performance art-style set up.

A cream coffee Patron cocktail that looked like frozen hot chocolate was served during arrivals.

Showcasing a white gown, another dancer made swan-like poses on and around a bird cage-like perch.

Miniature truffled grilled cheese bites were among the night's passed hors d'oeuvres, which also included Chinese chicken and cabbage salad in crispy wonton cups, scallion pancakes with Szechuan-braised beef shank, and hearts of palm and artichoke fritters.

Installed in a dimly lit room that glowed with pops of neon fluorescent lighting, the dinner was set up supper club-style, with guests dining on low, soft benches that allowed for ease of conversation. In honor of Chinese New Year, the menu included dim sum as well as chilled Maine lobster salad, fried eggplant with tofu and roasted peppers in a sweet basil chili sauce, and lemon chicken.

As a reminder of Chanel's numerical legacies, the producers digitally embedded numbers in the floor of the dinner space.

The dinner room was divided into eight sections, with 25 people each.

Chanel kept the furniture black, allowing the all-white floral displays to contrast the palette and simultaneously pay homage to Coco Chanel's love of the two hues.

DJs Alexa Chung (pictured) and Nick Cohen took the early and late shifts, respectively, providing musical entertainment for much of the evening.

Following dinner, Dublin-born rockabilly singer Imelda May performed live.

During the performance, the area in front of the stage was turned into a dance floor as guests flowed freely through the 5,000-square-foot party space.

In addition to the Chanel goodie bags that awaited them on the private planes and in their hotel rooms, guests received take-home treats as they left dinner.