‘Everything is flying everywhere’: Chanel CEO on the boom in handbags
The luxury brand is defying even pre-pandemic success levels, and merchandise is flying out the door so quickly that the company has had to raise prices. But what does the future hold?
What more, at this point, can be said about Chanel? Libraries of books have been written about the brand and the woman who started it all. That’s to say nothing of what has been written about her successor, Karl Lagerfeld, whose legacy looms large over the fashion industry in general and, more specifically, the house that he led for 36 years before his death in 2019.
Despite this, the company remains enigmatic. Its owners, the Wertheimer family, do not speak to the media and little is known about them. “We never talk,” is pretty much the only utterance to the press ever made by Gerard Wertheimer, the younger of the brothers who control the family fortune.
Lauren SamsFashion editorLauren Sams is the fashion editor, based in Sydney. She writes about lifestyle including the arts, entertainment, fashion and travel. Lauren has worked as a features editor and fashion journalist for ELLE, marie claire and more. Email Lauren at lauren.sams@afr.com
