Virginie Viard - Designer

[Grets]

The cover stories on BOF (at the moment it's Valentino) heavily focus on the biggest brands. Sometimes at the very corner or bottom maybe a piece on some emerging designer doing something interesting with social media. But rarely do these big media outlets cover emerging designers in a substantial way. And of course Prada, Valentino etc will pay for advertising space on these publications and then they'll write nice articles on them, and that's heavily the business of journalism. It's not that the talent isn't there, it's that the outlets that should be reporting on and elevating these new creatives aren't doing it. But sure lament over the state of fashion while doing little to do anything about it.

 

[Creative]

That article is really spot on. I 100000% agree with him. We are entering in a new era for fashion. The creative directors' approach get burnt really, really quickly. People get tired of everything really fast. The hype lasts a few seasons and then you are over. And when you play the game so much you end up like Gucci. Also, there are no new relevant voices. It's all so banal, insipid and boring.

I think what happened to Chanel is really meaningful. We all thought it was an untouchable brand and I feel the new designer/era will make it a "vulnerable" house for the first time since KL started there.

You have Fendi, Givenchy, Burberry, Gucci, McQueen, Versace... all completely lost. Dior being Zara 2.0, Chanel with no creative leader, Valentino desperate for sales trying to replicate Gucci's success (several years later).

Greediness and democratization killed fashion. I see brands under the 1Billion asking for 20% growth when they don't even have the infraestructure to support that... It is really like a supermarket. And it is sad. Creativity left the chat ages ago. It's a product industry now managed by brainless people.

 

[jeremydante]

When are we getting her replacement, and what staff left with her? That's what I want to know.

 

[Thefrenchy]

The Fashion System Is Creaking. Will It Collapse?​

That's a really good article, I wish it had its own thread to discuss.

What explains this pattern of events? There are a variety of forces at work, but I think it has something to do with a gradual breakdown of the social contract between creatives and their corporate bosses, who are not championing creativity in the way they once did..

I have said it before including multiple times here, and I'll say it forever. This is the heart of the problem.

We, as creatives, lost the moment we were forced to let our ideas be (at best) diluted by execs who only care about results read on an excel spreadsheet. Many people who consume fashion (visually or in store) always complain that X,Y or Z is so boring; but they don't realise that most of the time we are literally forced to do the dumb hoodie, the damn sneaker and the most plain image to ensure it's "easy to push". This isn't fun for any of us. Pair that with budget cuts that impact everything from product dev to campaign possibilities and you get why everything is so plain. There needs to be a shift with a new generation of execs who understand creatives and believe in them; enough with CFOs who become CEOs...

For Chanel / Viard, I found them very weak in how they marketed her. They could have amplified her voice much more as a woman designer at the helm of the ultimate luxury brand. Instead it was all so... quiet. Quiet personality and quiet (I'm being nice) designs, and the whole room fell asleep.

 

[Creative]

For me it’s also crazy the huge cuts on quality and costs. The greediness is just next level.

I asked a merchandiser why a bag didn’t have a detachable strap and they told me: it’s just more expensive to produce. CRRRRRAZY. Even Zara has detachable straps, what the actual f***k!

Back on topic, I think they will be without a creative leader for more than a year.

 

[TomBlanksFullFatMiuMiu]

For me it’s also crazy the huge cuts on quality and costs. The greediness is just next level.

I asked a merchandiser why a bag didn’t have a detachable strap and they told me: it’s just more expensive to produce. CRRRRRAZY. Even Zara has detachable straps, what the actual f***k!

Back on topic, I think they will be without a creative leader for more than a year.

They F up big time since their infamous Christmas calendar 2021, so greedy! Insanely tacky when Tiktokers and YouTubers mock you online with reason.
Under Lagerfeld and even without a CEO (2016-2021), Chanel was the perfect well oiled machine

Now you have the new CEO Leena Nair wanting to double current Chanel revenue in a decade according to Vogue....

 

[Darko]

 

[PDFSD]

Like all Youtube thumbnails big clickbait statement ...but funny to watch :-)
now i have: allegedly stuck in my head LOL

Basically his intel is saying that they requested for a 3th HC per year + VV stated that Chanel starting to behave like fast fashion company to slow it down.

 

[Caffeine]

Thanks for posting. If theses are true, the entire situation is then my case B where Leena squeezed out VV. This is ominous.

If Leena runs Chanel like P&G, then we will get a P&G.

 

[Grets]

Chanel is either ramping up to sell itself or the new CD doesn't want the old team

 

[LadyJunon]

Basically his intel is saying that they requested for a 3th HC per year + VV stated that Chanel starting to behave like fast fashion company to slow it down.

Don't the "Metiers d'Art" collections serve that purpose? That aside, a 3rd HC collection wouldn't any sense in the seasonal calendar? What would they even call it? People already have issues with understanding how pre-collections work, let's not make it worse for them.

Chanel is either ramping up to sell itself or the new CD doesn't want the old team

I imagine that it's the latter. Mainly, because the Wertheimer estate is just way too expensive of an entity to sell in one piece.

If the "Chanel" brand pulls in EUR 20 billion in revenue, an starting price of at least 40 to 60 billion for the core brand and assets alone. If we add Le19M (specialist ateliers), Eres (swimwear/lingerie), Tanner Krole (leather goods), Holland & Holland (gunmaking), Wertheimer et Frère (horseracing/breeding), Château Rauzan-Ségla and Château Canon (vineyards/wineries) to the equation, they could easily demand 100 billion for their entire estate.

 

[tourbillions]

where is that guy getting all his tea and why is he so obssessed. let it go hun, everyone just wants to know the new CD.

 

[Darko]

Like all Youtube thumbnails big clickbait statement ...but funny to watch :-)
now i have: allegedly stuck in my head LOL

Basically his intel is saying that they requested for a 3th HC per year + VV stated that Chanel starting to behave like fast fashion company to slow it down.

Like all Youtube thumbnails big clickbait statement ...but funny to watch :-)
now i have: allegedly stuck in my head LOL

Basically his intel is saying that they requested for a 3th HC per year + VV stated that Chanel starting to behave like fast fashion company to slow it down.

Allegedly ofc 😆😆😆

 

[yslforever]

Chanel is either ramping up to sell itself or the new CD doesn't want the old team

Ding ding ! we might have a winner !

 

[yslforever]

If the "Chanel" brand pulls in EUR 20 billion in revenue, an starting price of at least 40 to 60 billion for the core brand and assets alone. If we add Le19M (specialist ateliers), Eres (swimwear/lingerie), Tanner Krole (leather goods), Holland & Holland (gunmaking), Wertheimer et Frère (horseracing/breeding), Château Rauzan-Ségla and Château Canon (vineyards/wineries) to the equation, they could easily demand 100 billion for their entire estate.

They don't want to sell all their estate, only Chanel and its suppliers (19M), because they are very indecisive about their their succession. And to be honest the Heilbrons are much more invested in Chanel decisions than the Wertheimers.
Holland & Holland has already been resold.
Being very attached to Normandy, where they have nearly 20 properties or haras, they somehow own also part of Guy Degrenne (which I doubt is included in the Chanel package).
Wines and horses are their hobbies, as they don't really collect art, no reasons to sell that.

 

[LadyJunon]

They don't want to sell all their estate, only Chanel and its suppliers (19M), because they are very indecisive about their their succession. And to be honest the Heilbrons are much more invested in Chanel decisions than the Wertheimers.
Holland & Holland has already been resold.
Being very attached to Normandy, where they have nearly 20 properties or haras, they somehow own also part of Guy Degrenne (which I doubt is included in the Chanel package).
Wines and horses are their hobbies, as they don't really collect art, no reasons to sell that.

That makes more sense. Still, Chanel (+Le19M and Eres) could justifiably demand a price that could easily put a luxury conglomorate in the red for several years. Even LVMH would have to take a certain approach to avoid taking a huge hit.

 

[PDFSD]

They don't want to sell all their estate, only Chanel and its suppliers (19M), because they are very indecisive about their their succession. And to be honest the Heilbrons are much more invested in Chanel decisions than the Wertheimers.
Holland & Holland has already been resold.
Being very attached to Normandy, where they have nearly 20 properties or haras, they somehow own also part of Guy Degrenne (which I doubt is included in the Chanel package).
Wines and horses are their hobbies, as they don't really collect art, no reasons to sell that.

Why not do the Rolex's ownership structure by way of a non-profit entity that is owned by a Foundation,that has the actual operational ownership of the company is vested in several private entities. with all of these ‘owners’ working together to ensure the legacy, history and everything.

Maybe it only possible with Swiss law, but the with the holdings in Holland and London etc.... i think should be possible to move to Switzerland ?
Strange they would only think of now regarding the future.

 

[PDFSD]

(old article but maybe others did not read it yet )​

www.bloomberg.com​

Secretive Brother Runs Side Bets for $58 Billion Chanel Empire​

Charles Heilbronn manages the Wertheimer family fortune at Mousse Partners.
14 August 2019 at 13:00 CEST

Late 1950s montage of a woman inside a Chanel No. 5 bottle.
Photographer: Weegee (Arthur Fellig)/International Center of Photography

They typically sit a few rows back from the runway, a balding and bespectacled pair who prefer to stay out of the spotlight.
“We’re a very discreet family, we never talk,” Gerard Wertheimer whispered to a reporter before a 2001 fashion show in Paris.
He and his brother Alain own Chanel, the luxury empire built on No. 5 perfume, the little black dress and the genius of Karl Lagerfeld. Then there’s the pair’s younger half-brother Charles Heilbronn, a Chanel executive vice president with an even lower profile but equally important role: safeguarding the clan’s fortune at the family office, Mousse Partners.

Brothers Alain (right) and Gerard Wertheimer at the Prix de Diane Longines in Chantilly, France, June 2011.
Photographer: Julien Hekimian/WireImage via Getty Images
While Alain runs the company from a glass tower just south of Central Park in Manhattan, a door within his office is always open, connected to Heilbronn’s. Gerard is based in Geneva.


All three are sons of Eliane Heilbronn, the lawyer who drafted Lagerfeld’s lifetime contract. They’re guiding one of the world’s most valuable private companies—with about $3 billion of annual profit.

Fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld with Eliane Heilbronn at the Paris Institute of Political Studies, November 2013.
Photographer: Eric Feferberg/AFP via Getty Images
Together the family is worth almost $58 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, a 26% increase from a year ago, making it the world’s fifth-richest. And that’s a conservative figure. Some analysts estimate Chanel could be worth more than $100 billion if it went public, driven by Asia’s insatiable appetite for $5,000 fanny packs and $1,500 jeans.

A Chanel spokesman declined to comment on the family’s net worth.

Mousse Partners employs more than three dozen people in Manhattan, Hong Kong and Beijing, a substantial operation for a single family office. Heilbronn has run things since the start, placing winning bets on cheaper versions of Chanel’s beauty and fashion offerings.
He made more than $1 billion on Ulta Beauty Inc., the cosmetics chain focused on millennial women, regulatory filings show.
See also: A Chanel deal may be out of reach even for luxury giant LVMH
He also invested in skin-care and cosmetics brands such as Beautycounter and Coty Inc., menswear firm Bonobos and lingerie company Adore Me, and ventured beyond Chanel’s fashion and beauty heritage, taking stakes in entertainment, furniture and pharmaceutical companies.
Mousse, though, increasingly resembles the financial firms also housed in the skyscraper at 9 W. 57th St., where it’s headquartered along with Chanel. At least a half-dozen employees deal with private equity, while others focus on hedge funds, foreign exchange and alternative assets. Most have joined in the past two years from better-known operations, including Carlyle Group LP, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund and the family office of George Soros.

The Solow Building at 9 W. 57th St. in Manhattan.
Photographer: Manel Vinuesa/Getty Images

Mousse Partners doesn’t disclose how much money it has at its disposal, but Chanel distributed more than $1.6 billion in dividends in just the past three years, according to U.K. regulatory filings. Payouts before 2016 weren’t made public and are therefore excluded from Bloomberg’s estimate of the family’s wealth.

Diverse Interests​

Mousse Partners invests in a range of sectors and regions

Since the death of their father, Jacques Wertheimer, in 1996, Alain and Gerard have been credited with owning equal shares of the Chanel empire. But the firm is held through offshore companies, making it impossible for outsiders to know for sure.
Chanel is held by Litor Ltd., registered in the Cayman Islands. Mousse Partners was folded into Litor in December, according to a legal notice in the Cayman Islands Gazette. Chanel declined to comment on Heilbronn’s ownership stake, if one exists.

Les Parfums Chanel was founded in 1924 by brothers Pierre and Paul Wertheimer, and Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel, who’d begun selling her popular No. 5 perfume and fashion designs years earlier.

Pierre Wertheimer (left) with jockey Rae Johnstone after a victory at the Epsom Derby in June 1956.
Photographer: Ron Case/Hulton Archive via Getty Images
The Wertheimers took a 70% stake, and Theophile Bader, a friend who introduced the brothers to Coco, received 20% as a finder’s fee, leaving Coco with 10%. She resented having a smaller share and fought for more. By 1928, according to a biography by Axel Madsen, the Wertheimers had a lawyer on staff dedicated to dealing with the designer.
In 1941, after failed attempts to increase her stake, Coco took a different approach. It was illegal for Jews to own a company in Nazi-occupied Paris, so she told the Nazis about the Wertheimers’ ownership, according to the biography.
But the family was prepared and transferred its holding to a friend, Felix Amiot, before fleeing France. They reclaimed their stake after the war and, following Paul’s death in 1947, Pierre bought out his brother’s heirs, according to Madsen.
He then acquired the remaining stakes held by Bader and, finally, Coco. By 1954, Pierre Wertheimer owned all of Chanel.

Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel posing for Vanity Fair in 1931.
Photographer: George Hoyningen-Huene/Conde Nast via Getty Images
After his death in 1965, ownership passed to Jacques. By then, Alain and Gerard were teenagers, and Charles, born during Eliane’s second marriage to Didier Heilbronn, was 10.

Alain was just 25 in 1974 when he persuaded board members to give him control of Chanel after his racehorse-loving father almost ran it into the ground. Alain had little business experience but quickly saw that changes were needed. He pulled Chanel’s products from drugstores to focus on high-end distributors and hired his mother’s law firm as general counsel, bringing the Heilbronn side of the family into the fold. Charles joined in 1987.
The business has since thrived.
“Everything it seems to produce is sought after,” said Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Deborah Aitken. “It’s growing double digits across categories that transcend age groups and purse strings.”
As with any dynasty, there are challenges and questions about succession. Lagerfeld, the face of the company for more than three decades, died in February. Alain is 70, Gerard, 67, and Charles isn’t far behind at 64. So the next generation is getting to work.

Arthur Heilbronn.
Photographer: Carly Otness/BFA

Arthur Heilbronn, 32, interned at Chanel before joining his father at Mousse Partners, according to a spokesman. Alain’s son Nathaniel, also 32, is set to start at Chanel within months.
And like his father and uncles, Arthur is shunning the spotlight. The Harvard Business School graduate declined to comment when contacted for this story on LinkedIn. Subsequently, all mention of his work experience, including at Chanel, vanished from his profile.
At Chanel’s newly designed flagship store in New York, where a visitor may be offered Champagne or espresso, five floors of luxury pay homage to the brand’s namesake. There are portraits of Coco, chairs upholstered in her signature tweed and a 60-foot sculpture of a pearl necklace. Lagerfeld’s designs line the racks and fill the display cases.

There is, however, no sign of the three brothers behind it all.
And that’s just how they like it.

 

[LadyJunon]

This WWD article from 2019 here also says LVMH executives stated that Chanel's IPO is worth close to 100 billion euros:

Chanel is not worth 50 billion euros, but closer to 100 billion euros, so it’s “unclear who would have interest,” said analysts at Jefferies, in a research note recapping discussions with Jean-Jacques Guiony, LVMH’s chief financial officer, and Louis Vuitton chief executive officer Michael Burke.

The executives were hosting analysts on a two-day field trip focused on the Louis Vuitton brand’s leather goods’ manufacturing strategy and operations.

The 50 billion-euro figure has been floating around for the past year, with some saying it could be higher — one luxury industry source said 80 billion euros.

WWD

Chanel's annual revenue in 2018 was 9.8 billion euros and their annual revenue in 2023 was 18.4 billion euros. Using the rough estimates here, I can roughly estimate the company's current worth using this formula:
(value18/revenue18) × revenue23

If Chanel was worth 80 billion euros in 2018:
(80/9.8) × 18.4 = 150.2

If Chanel was worth 100 billion euros in 2018:
(100/9.8) × 18.4 = 187.8

Assuming that all other factors of company valuation have been static throughout this period, Chanel could be worth 150 to 190 billion euros today. In truth, it's probably more.

 

[yslforever]

Why not do the Rolex's ownership structure by way of a non-profit entity that is owned by a Foundation,that has the actual operational ownership of the company is vested in several private entities. with all of these ‘owners’ working together to ensure the legacy, history and everything.

Maybe it only possible with Swiss law, but the with the holdings in Holland and London etc.... i think should be possible to move to Switzerland ?
Strange they would only think of now regarding the future.

Foundations in France are heavily regulated by the Minister of the Interior (the equivalent of the Home Office in the UK), which impose one to three civil servants on every foundation board, but those people are usually former "Préfets", ie very high civil servants usually from a police background, very authoritarian. That's the case even for foundation for medical purposes or culture purpose, like mine... or like the Foundation Alaia, which has a semi-infamous civil servant of their board, who used to send police riot every day with violent clashes on an airport project and tends to behave like that in board meetings.
So it's only possible under Swiss law, but if you transfer your company/assets to a foundation, even to a Swiss one, how do you cash out/get paid ?

The Hans Wildorf foundation, the structure owning Rolex, was founded because the Wildorfes didn't have children and heirs, and didn't want to sell and go to the bank.

BTW; Hermès is worth 230 billions €, the Wertheimers are asking almost the same. So nobody knows if they seriously want to sell, maybe hoping for a queen from a Gulfe monarchy or a sovereign fund to snatch it, or if they just want to, idk, incite interest from one of their heir to succeed them.
Its the complete reverse of the Succession TV show, none of the Wertheimers childrens are interested in Chanel, they have different lives and have never been very involved in the family business, at least much less than the Heilbrons, who aren't direct shareholders.