BoF FAQs: Chanel

Why is Chanel successful? According to BNP Exane Paribas consumer surveys in 2018, Chanel is the most desirable luxury fashion brand in the world. Chanel is a master of category segregation. This strategy involves confining iconic, core category products to high-end price ranges like the brand's now iconic quilted handbags, while positioning other product categories (lipsticks, for example) at lower price points to target aspirational customers.

When was Chanel founded?

Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel founded her eponymous brand in 1910. The French designer opened her first shop, "Chanel Modes," on Rue Cambon in Paris on January 1, 1910. It was a millinery establishment. Her lover, Boy Capel, purchased her a boutique in Deauville in 1913, where she introduced her first collection: a sportswear line. In 1915, Chanel opened her first atelier in Biarritz, France. The brand's design atelier is famously still headquartered on the Rue Cambon, and the Coco Chanel's apartment remains open to select individuals.

Where are Chanel bags made?

Chanel purses, bags and handbags are made in specialist factories located across France, in artisanal areas of Italy like Tuscany, and reportedly in remote regions of Spain, such as the town of Ubrique.

When was Chanel No.5 created?

Chanel introduced her first fragrance, Chanel No.5, in 1921. The scent was created by perfumer Ernst Beaux and was the fifth perfume sample Beaux presented to Chanel. Many of the ingredients that go into the perfume continue to be supplied by the same farm in Grasse, France, since 1921. The Chanel No.5 bottle was designed to resemble a whiskey decanter. It has never altered in its near 100-year history.

Where did Chanel originate from?

Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel was born in Saumur, a town in the Maine-et-Loire region of western France. Chanel was illegitimate and entered the world in a house hospice in 1883. She was one of five children and the family struggled financially. Chanel's mother died when she was 12 and her father abandoned his three daughters in the grounds of an orphanage run by Catholic nuns.

After her time at the nunnery, Chanel moved to Moulins to work as a seamstress. She earned a wage singing at a bar, where she was nicknamed Coco. Her professional life began when a French textile heir set her up as a milliner in 1906.

Where are Chanel clothes made?

Chanel's haute couture ateliers are based in Paris, France, and its ready-to-wear collections are also largely manufactured in Paris. Additionally, the label has eleven savoir faire maisons — Desrues, Michel, Lemarié, Lesage, Massaro, Goossens, Guillet, Montex, Causse, Barrie and Atelier Gérard Lognon — five are based in a specialist complex in Pantin, a Parisian suburb. The remaining seven savoir faire maisons are based around Paris.

To create its haute couture and ready-to-wear collections, the company employs teams of specialists known by their traditional titles of premieres, secondes and les petites mains, as well as façonniers, the ready-to-wear manufacturers. Chanel eyewear is produced through a license with Luxottica.

Where is Chanel sold?

Chanel operates a vertically integrated exclusive distribution model, which means its clothing and accessories are only sold through its own boutiques and department store concessions worldwide. Although the brand's makeup and fragrance lines are also produced in-house, they are sold through a much broader distribution network.

Fragrances, makeup and eyewear are some of the few products sold online. Unveiling its financials for the first time in 2018, Chanel posted revenue in excess of $9 billion in 2017, of which Chanel's beauty and fragrance lines are heavyweight contributors.

Why do Chanel prices increase?

Chanel increased prices by 6 percent on several popular handbags on November 1, including the Timeless Classic, 2.55 and Boy Chanel. The increases reflect rising production costs and strong demand, but also sends the message that its brand is, if anything, still undervalued. Chanel may feel its size and reputation grant some immunity from the ups and downs of the global business cycle.

Why doesn’t Chanel sell online?

Chanel does not currently sell accessories or ready-to-wear online due to a “strategic choice” and the importance of physical interaction with the product and the importance of the in-store experience to the Chanel brand.

Bruno Pavlovsky, president of fashion at Chanel SAS, told BoF: "To be able to wear Chanel clothes, you need to try them on. You need to be in the fitting room. You need to have a tailor who alters the clothes to fit exactly to your body. It's part of our differentiation to have ready-to-wear that is perfect for our customers."

The brand also chooses not to sell online in order to protect the exclusivity of the brand. Pavlovsky said at a Vogue conference in Paris: “If you give everything to everyone straight away, I think you lose that exclusivity.” Chanel does however sell cosmetics, fragrances and eyewear online.

Why does Chanel never go on sale?

Product from Chanel remains at full price as a strategy to maintain brand desirability and inherent product value.

When did Gabrielle Chanel die?

Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel died on January 10, 1971, aged 88.

How do you pronounce Chanel?

The phonetic spelling of Chanel is: Sha-nell