Chanel keeps faith in Australian market

LUXURY brand Chanel has opened the doors to its renovated Sydney flagship.

Chanel store Sydney

LUXURY brand Chanel has opened the doors to its renovated Sydney flagship, confident that Australians' appetite for the finer French things in life is greater than their Asian neighbours. Companies such as Burberry and Louis Vuitton have been affected by a slowdown in economic growth in China, but Chanel Australia's managing director David Blakeley says there is enough local demand to justify expanding operations in Australia.

"We have always targeted the local customers," Mr Blakeley says. "If we didn't believe in them we wouldn't be expanding." The Castlereagh Street boutique was launched in 1988, but has been renovated with 24-carat gold-leaf walls, LED art screens and seats coated with Chanel tweed manufactured by Europe's most respected embroiderer Lesage.

After Christmas, the second stage of renovations will begin with the exterior of the entire building to be clad in Chanel's signature white.

"We have seen tourism come and go with the Japanese and the Chinese," Blakeley says. "We're looking after Australians. We opened a ready-to-wear and a beauty boutique in Brisbane last year and will open a boutique in King Street, Perth, in December."

Chanel's temporary store in Westfield Sydney, which was originally only going to trade during renovations of the flagship, will now become a permanent boutique following successful trading. "The store will now be fitted out to complete Chanel standards, but Castlereagh Street is our Sydney flagship," Blakeley says.

Last year, Louis Vuitton moved its Sydney flagship from Castlereagh Street to George Street, but Blakeley still refers to his company's address as the city's Paris End. "I think it shows the maturity of Sydney as a shopping city that it can no longer be contained in just one area," he says. "But position is something Chanel takes very seriously and we're very happy with ours."

From Saturday, Chanel will celebrate its renovations with an exhibition of photographs by designer Karl Lagerfeld and former Paris Vogue editor Carine Roitfeld at Pier 2/3 in Sydney's Walsh Bay until November 11.

Soft sell
Sticking with Coco Chanel's legacy, the French luxury house has acquired the under-threat Scottish cashmere manufacturer Barrie Knitwear, securing the jobs of the firm's 176 employees. The 140-year-old Scottish borders-based firm, which produces Chanel's iconic two-tone cashmere cardigans, is a trading division of textiles firm Dawson International Trading, which was placed in administration in August.

"We have been working with them for more than 25 years and there was a risk that the firm could disappear," the head of Chanel's fashion division Bruno Pavlovsky says. "It made sense to be able to keep working with such extraordinarily competent people."

The acquisition "secures the jobs of all 176 employees and safeguards a historic brand," Chanel said in a statement. Based in Hawick, where it produces 20,000 to 25,000 pieces for about 100 clients worldwide, the firm will continue to be run by its present management team and will uphold all existing contracts without exclusivity.

Barrie Knitwear "was under threat of disappearing not because it is not working, but it was caught up in the problems facing Dawson", which are linked to the financing of pensions at the group, Pavlovksy said.

"The company is one of the last in Scotland that is capable of producing sophisticated wares to display on the catwalks, and then to manufacture them."

Barrie Knitwear is the second foreign firm to be acquired by Chanel, following the Italian shoemaker Roveda. Since 1985, Chanel has bought nine high-end craft firms through its subsidiary Paraffection, including the embroiderer Lesage, bootmaker Massaro, hatmaker Michel and, last September, the glovemaker Causse.

AFP