Chanel's American In Paris

At a meeting with her leadership team in a sleek conference room high above New York, Maureen Chiquet, a slim 43-year-old with close-cropped hair, wears a dark couture jacket by legendary Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld paired with superfine jeans and black Chanel boots. She and her team are strategizing about the launch of a new perfume. "Let's not be thinking about how big we can make this," says the new global head of one of the world's paramount--and most secretive--luxury brands, "but about how exclusive and special you can keep it."

It's a fair summary of Chiquet's strategy for the entire Chanel brand. In a transition planned since she joined Chanel in 2003, she rose from president of the Parisian company's U.S. division to the newly created global CEO post on Jan. 1. That's quite a trajectory for a St. Louis native who spent most of her career at Gap Inc. (GPS). Her aim is just as ambitious: to take a strong brand to the next level by appealing to a new generation of luxury shoppers. To do so, she is employing a consumer focus unusual for luxury retailing and borrowing a few tricks from Gap. "Maureen has gotten us to perceive the brand from the opposite side of the counter because she is the ultimate Chanel consumer," says Renette Zimmerly, Chanel's U.S. director of creative services.