The Kaiser's Xbox

Colette wraps the season's hottest tech gift in Lagerfeld

December 7, 2005—It's not a well-known fact, but Karl Lagerfeld happens to be a big-time gadget fan (the man reportedly owns more than 70 iPods). Which helps explain the Lagerfeld-designed Xbox 360s you see above. To celebrate the release of Microsoft's anticipated new gaming system, Paris-based concept shop Colette enlisted the Chanel meister and a few other local designers to put their own twist on the geektastic gadget. Sonia Rykiel's interpretations sport stripe-adorned figures ripped from the Rykiel Homme runway. Andrée Putman, credited with conceiving and designing the first boutique hotel, encases hers in sleek chrome, and Irina Volkonski and DJ Pedro Winter contributed pink polka-dotted and chartreuse-sequined versions, respectively. The exhibit is curated by local graffiti artist Andre, adored for bringing "beautiful crime," as he calls it, to the streets of Paris (he also designed an Xbox). Where there's a blank surface, he will adorn it—and, in this case, invite a few fashionable friends to do the same.
The units are on display at Colette through Sunday, Dec. 11, after which they'll be available for purchase (prices: Andre, €350; Lagerfeld, €1,000; Putman, €1,000; Rykiel, €200; Volkonski, €369; Winter, €100). Colette, 213 rue Saint-Honore, Paris, 33-1-55-35-33-90, www.colette.fr