Karl Lagerfeld’s latest directional offering is distinctly Chanel – luxurious, star studded and expertly styled. ‘Reincarnation’ is the result of a collaborative debut – that between Mr Lagerfeld and Pharrell Williams, a close personal friend of the house and of the designer himself – that sees a re-imagining of a former age of decadence. Mr Williams composed and wrote the lyrics the soundtrack for the video, a song entitled ‘CC The World’.

The narrative depicts Gabrielle Chanel (embodied by Chaplin) as she holidays in Salzburg in 1954. A chance encounter with a liftboy (Pharrell Williams) serves to influence womenswear for decades to come. “It was time to show the origins of the CHANEL jacket, inspired by the one worn by a lift attendant in a hotel near Salzburg in the 1950s,” Mr Lagerfeld states. “Reincarnation is the story of a lift attendant’s jacket bring reincarnated as a timeless piece of women’s wear.” The video will accompany the Paris-Salzburg 2014/15 Métiers d’art collection in Salzburg, of which Cara Delevingne is the face.