It should come as no surprise that the Chanel Mobile Art Installation, a traveling exhibit that opened in New York's Central Park today, features this homage to a classic Chanel quilted purse.

The exhibit, honoring the 50th anniversary of the iconic Chanel purse, is housed in a temporary structure that some observers have said looks like an architectural handbag, or a spaceship or a pavilion from a long-past World's Fair. Conceived by Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld and designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Zaha Hadid, the structure required nearly two years of planning to come to life. The exhibit premiered in Hong Kong in March, then traveled to Tokyo. It will spend three weeks in New York, before heading off to London, Moscow and Paris.

Twenty contemporary artists were invited to submit original work inspired by Chanel. "The idea was to cross their creative universe with the cult of Chanel and of the Chanel bags," says Bruno Pavlosky, Chanel fashion president. The link between contemporary artists and Chanel is long-standing, according to Mr. Pavlosky. Coco Chanel was a patron of artists, a tradition that Chanel has maintained by featuring art in its boutiques. "Creativity is the fuel, it's the engine of our brand," Mr. Pavlosky says.

Admission to the exhibit is free and New York City officials hope it will attract as much attention as recent public art like Olafur Eliasson's waterfalls and Christo's orange gates. "It's a really important thing, particularly now, when the economy needs some help, to do things that attract interest," says Adrian Benepe, New York City Parks Commissioner. "Even this exhibition itself is creating a lot of temporary jobs for local labor."