Image courtesy Chanel.com
Yes, you read that correctly. Chanel is planning another round of price increases for its popular handbag line, and likely that includes the Chanel Classic (or Iconic) Flap. As you may recall, in March 2023, the Chanel-imposed rise in prices took the medium Classic into the five figure range ($10,200), approaching and nearly encroaching on the territory of its greatest competition, Hermès.
In its recent Fall-Winter 2024 show in Paris the Classic Flap took center stage. Featured in Chanel’s short film about the collection and completing many ensembles on the runway, it is clear that Chanel is highlighting the Classic Flap once again, as it did in 2021. To the PurseBop team, this clearly indicated Chanel’s desire to revive the fashion world’s love for this Chanel classic. Whether a price increase helps or hurts remains to be seen.
Speaking with WWD, Chanel’s President Bruno Pavlovsky described the Classic Flap as “one of the icons of the brand” and that another round of price increases was imminent. It is, after all, the month of March and Chanel typically changes (upward, of course) the prices in or about March and October. He says the increases will be largely uniform internationally, except for Japan, to account for currency devaluation. According to Pavlosky:
“We’re not chasing a market positioning, but we’re raising our prices to cover our costs. Most of our competitors have already increased their prices this year. We haven’t raised ours, so yes, there will be an increase fairly soon.”
We can all devote hours to whether the Chanel Classic Flap is worthy of a price tag consistent with Hermès Birkins and Kellys, but we leave that to the PurseBop community for the moment. What will be clear, however, is that – as we indicated in our recent article about the Birkin Premium – higher prices for the Chanel Classic Flap will cause the Birkin Premium to decline or disappear.
We’ll leave you with this quote from Pavlosky:
“The iconic bag requires 278 steps, and that’s a real skill. Before they can master every stage, craftspeople must spend several years in the workshop. That’s something we want to preserve now more than ever, so we will pay what it takes to ensure the quality of our products is always beyond reproach,”
Read;
The Birkin Premium Returns to Double Digits in 2024
Wall Street Journal Features the ‘Birkin Premium’ (Again)
Image capture from Chanel.com
Updated: March 27th, 2024
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