On July 2, Chanel announced the acquisition of renowned shirt manufacturer Charvet. Despite Chanel’s assurances that there were no plans to expand the company or change production, many people expressed fears about the acquisition. Columnist RJ de Mans offers his views.
RJ de Mans*
Chanel’s recent acquisition of a shirtmaker charvet This does not mean the tragic deaths of other independent artisans. It might be suitable for a general story. Rather, it is sherbet’s best hope for the future. Unusually among luxury groups, Chanel has a history of carefully nurturing the select brands it acquires. My hunch, based on the fashion world and its winds in recent years, is that Charvet could benefit from Chanel’s protection.
I have reason to take this news personally, as I have been a voracious customer of Charvet’s custom shirt-making, tailoring, tie-making and other off-the-wall ventures for the past 20 years. Others may have felt anxiously possessive when they learned of the acquisition. Charvet was unique in many ways and wanted to add his own memories of the house to its long and widely known history.
From the entrance, Charvet is enchanting, quiet and exotic.
Delicate items in a variety of colors are overwhelming – neckties in sumptuous jewel-toned fabrics, suede mule slippers, sumptuous dressing gowns in cashmere or sumptuous silk prints, countless fabrics in sacred cloth floors, Charvet’s and more. Holy of Holies
i wrote my book The wardrobe alone is a reason to use Charvet. With thousands of different colors, weaves and patterns in cotton, linen and silk, customers can view, compare and find inspiration they can’t find anywhere else.
Charvet’s family ownership seemed to have a French element to it. Charles De Gaulle legendaryly brokered the sale (to its last owners, the Colban family) to keep the building in France as a national heritage item.
At that time, 60 or 70 years ago, there were many gentlemen’s tailoring shops in the Place Vendôme area of Charvet. These included the hat maker Gélot, the boot maker Hellstern and the Paris store of London’s Edouard & Butler. But today Charvet is a rare independent hall right next to the flagships of brands belonging to luxury conglomerates such as Richemont (Cartier, Van Cleef, Buccellati), LVMH (Tiffany, Chaumet) or Kering (Boucheron).
Many luxury flagships like this have lost money due to their branding efforts. Licensing (perfume, eyewear, diffusion or outlet lines) or wholesale really supports the business. However, Charvet’s wholesale business (mainly ready-to-wear shirts and ties) operates only in a very limited number of specialty stores.
Ties were a moneymaker for luxury brands because they were much cheaper than shirts or shoes and did not require a variety of sizes. The tie is undoubtedly Sherbet and a signature item of the house, but one cannot help but suspect that Charbet’s tie may have been influenced by the general trend in suits, where open-neck shirts have become a trend. in fact Business uniform.
According to Charvet, they are not doing any licensing or spreading lines. Ready-to-wear shirts are made much like bespoke shirts by the same people at Charvet’s own facility in Indre, a former industrial region in France. And since the perfume is much harder to find than the shirts, airport duty-free stores are not supporting Charvet’s profits.
All this contributes to Charvet’s image of honesty. This presents a world of different qualities open to those in the know.
Charvet’s custom shirt making, available only in Paris, still accounts for a large part of his business. Some ‘big’ customers (such as financial tycoons) may order dozens of shirts a year. But ordinary mortals like you and me have to overcome polite but firm resistance from employees. They’re trying to entice would-be speakers with Charvet’s in-stock special offers that require much less pattern manipulation but are priced just as well as custom products.
I encountered the same kind of resistance to customization at Chanel’s actual prototype shirt supplier, Hilditch & Key Paris, which recently closed. In addition to creating exquisite personalized shirts for Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld, H&K Paris has supplied products to Chanel for decades. His thousands of orders over the years probably kept Hilditch & Key Paris in business.
I used to wonder why Chanel didn’t just buy it that Shop now. Hilditch & Key Paris closed in 2024, five years after Karl’s death. The French subcontractor that produced H&K Paris’ bespoke products also closed around the same time.
Fears that Chanel would apply the same ‘industrial’ approach to Charvet pieces as it did to its quilted leather wallets seem overblown.
In France, Charvet suffers from quite a bit of reversed snobbery due to its price and deliberate mythology. A handful of other independent shirtmakers in Paris sometimes criticize the machine-made buttonholes on their very expensive bespoke shirts and their assembly-line approach to shirt making.
Craftsmanship is an important part of the brand, but Charvet makes no secret of the fact that their custom shirts are almost entirely machine-made, yet they are better and more durable than any other shirt I own.
Chanel’s group company is called Paraffection, which loosely translates to “from love.”
The name supports Chanel’s narrative of acquiring businesses to ensure the survival of its supplier of luxury crafts. custom shoe manufacturer Massaro, Scottish cashmere knitter Barrie (and more recently cashmere yarn spinner Todd & Duncan), hat maker Michel, and numerous smaller specialist companies providing embroidery, feathers, trimmings and other essentials for couture.
From what I understand, Chanel continues to produce its signature clothing in France and appears to treat the brands it acquires with respect. Chanel commissioned Edward Green to create a glamorous but short-lived ready-to-wear line for Massaro, and raised Barrie’s profile as a sophisticated, discreet boutique.
Charvet was a natural choice for Chanel, who despite her long history with Chanel had something that Hilditch & Key Paris did not. Charvet has a typical Frenchness, especially to foreigners.
And Charvet has its own workshop. That means you can actually create prototypes for Chanel’s couture, like the recent catwalk models created for Chanel designer Matthieu Blazy, or the occasional high-profile collaboration that gets people talking.
Will Chanel essentially remain Charvet? Incomparable wardrobes, beautifully collapsing ties, and gorgeous loungewear are inseparable elements of Charvet’s identity. I think it will remain the essence of Charvet like a rare perfume bottle.
Can Chanel leave Charvet’s secret, forgotten corners untouched, where surprising things are still discovered? Time will tell. Chanel bought Shave, and Chanel bought Shabe Time.
*This is the pen name of the author, PS reader, and frequent forum participant.
