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Who Can Sell Chanel?

For years, Chanel executives have been pondering ways to manage their brand on the secondary market. It’s been a journey that has included plenty of thoughtful decks, office gossip, and litigation, too.

Alain Wertheimer, Chanel’s former global C.E.O. and a member of the family that owns the iconic brand.
Alain Wertheimer, Chanel’s former global C.E.O. and a member of the family that owns the iconic brand. Photo: Foc Kan/WireImage
Lauren Sherman
December 14, 2023

In May 2017, Chanel’s president of fashion, Bruno Pavlovsky, organized a meeting of his top executives to discuss the growing albatross around his neck: The secondary market for Chanel goods was expanding fast, and the company didn’t quite know what to do about it. There were dozens of pages of facts prepared for the meeting, with the goal of achieving a “qualitative and quantitative understanding of the market,” and also creating “a summary of what is at stake for Chanel; and what options to consider,” according to an email sent by another top executive, Olivier Combemorel.