"It's very hard to see how its really turned out, because I've been here all week," he says. "The store is very easy to circulate. I love doing stores this size, as opposed to the 30,000 square footer we did in London." In fact, out of the myriad Chanel boutiques he's helmed, this may be the most iconic. "This is only black and white. Normally we do a lot of beige, but we really stuck with the emblematic black and white for SoHo."

As the face of the revamped store, model Crystal Renn also stood by the Lagerfeld's side for the evening. "The store is gorgeous. Karl took these beautiful pictures of me for this beautiful evening. It's a huge honor, and tonight is a big night for me. The whole Chanel energy is fantastic. The Chanel family is like being old friends." She confessed, "All Chanel... it's like my dream."

A dream in black and white, as the majority in attendance stuck with Chanel's signature palette. Blake Lively, who walked hand-in-hand with Lagerfeld for most of the evening, bucked the trend in a bejeweled, purple and black sleeveless dress—and when the entourage headed for the door, the designer spotted the matching quilted bag and pulled it off the shelf to hand to the starlet. When you travel with the Kaiser, the world of Chanel is but an exquisite, double-C oyster.