On July 2, Chanel announced its acquisition of established shirt maker Charvet. Despite Chanel’s assurances that it had no plans to expand the company or change production, many expressed dismay at the takeover. Here, columnist RJ de Mans offers his opinion.
By RJ de Mans.*
Chanel’s latest acquisition is the shirt makerCharvetIt doesn’t mean the tragic death of another freelancer, as that might be a common story. Rather, it is Charvet’s best hope for the future.Unusually among luxury groups, Chanel has a history of carefully curating the select brands it acquires. My opinion, based on the fashion – and fashion business – spirit of recent years, is that Charvet can benefit from the protection of Chanel.
I have reason to take this news personally, as I have been an avid customer of Charvet shirting, tailoring and tailoring, and your other scumbags, for the past 20 years.Others, when they heard about the acquisition, perhaps felt a bitter concern: Charvet is unique in many ways, and they wanted to add their own memories of the house to its long and extensive history.
On entry the Charvet is seductive, muted and unique.
Delicate items in a wide range of colors skip: jeweled woven ties, suede mule slippers, luxurious dresses in cashmeres or loud silk prints, and a host of fabrics from its holy grail, Charvet’s.the sanctum sanctorum.
I wrotemy bookthat fabric room alone is the reason to use Charvet. Thousands of different colors, weaves and patterns in cotton, linen, and silk allow the customer to see, compare, and find inspiration like nowhere else.
Charvet’s family identity seems to be part of its Frenchness. Charles De Gaulle officially sold its sale (to the Colban family, its last owners) to keep it French, as part of the national heritage.
At that time, six or seven decades ago, Charvet’s Place Vendôme was home to many gentlemen’s talkies: the hatters Gélot, the bootmakers Hellstern, the Paris shop of London’s Edouard & Butler.However, today, Charvet is a rare independent domain that is close to the main brands of one company or some of the luxury groups: Richemont (Cartier, Van Cleef, Buccellati), LVMH (Tiffany, Chaumet) or Kering (Boucheron).
Many flags of convenience like these are used at a loss as branding efforts. Licensing (perfumes, eyewear, distribution or outlet lines) or wholesale supports the business. But Charvet’s wholesale business (mainly ready-to-wear shirts and ties) still has a limited number of specialty stores.
Ties used to make money as luxury products, were more affordable than shirts or shoes, and didn’t require different sizes. While its ties are unmistakably Charvet and a signature item of the house, I can’t help but suspect that Charvet ties were influenced by the classic open-neck shirt-turned-shirt suit.de factobusiness uniform.
To Charvet’s credit, it doesn’t use licensed or distribution lines: its ready-to-wear shirts are made very much by the same people as bespoke, by the same people at Charvet’s site in Indre, a former industrial area of France. And its perfumes are harder to find than its shirts, so people who don’t pay anything at the airport don’t fit the Charvet essence.
All this contributes to Charvet’s image of integrity. It suggests a different world of quality open to those in the know.
Charvet’s excellent shirtmaking – only available in Paris – can still be a big part of your business. Some ‘big fish’ customers – financial celebrities and the like – may order dozens of shirts a year.However, ordinary mortals like you and me must overcome the polite but firm opposition of its staff. They are trying to direct potential speakers to the special offer of Charvet stock, which has a value close to the reserve price while requiring very little pattern manipulation.
I encountered the same kind of resistance worth mentioning at the recently closed Hilditch & Key Paris, Chanel’s original supplier of model shirts.H&K Paris has supplied Chanel for decades in addition to making personal shirts for Chanel designer, Karl Lagerfeld. Over the years, thousands of his orders have probably kept Hilditch & Key Paris open.
I used to wonder why Chanel didn’t just buy itthatbuy directly. Hilditch & Key Paris closed in 2024, five years after Karl’s death. The French subcontractor who had made H&K Paris bespoke was closed at the same time.
Fears that Chanel will bring the same ‘industrial’ approach to Charvet’s creations as that of its quilted leather bags appear to be overblown.
In France, Charvet is subject to a perverted snobbery for its prices and its deliberate legends. A number of other independent shirtmakers in Paris sometimes criticize it for things like having machine-made buttonholes on its more expensive bespoke shirts, and the questionable method of making the shirts.
Although craftsmanship is an important part of their product, Charvet does not hide the fact that their well-made shirts are almost entirely machine-made – but they are better and more durable than other shirts I own.
The Chanel group company is called Paraffection – loosely translated, “because of love”.
That name supports Chanel’s narrative that it is acquiring companies to ensure the survival of its high-end craft suppliers: custom shoemaker Massaro, Scottish cashmere weaver Barrie (and more recently cashmere yarn spinner Todd & Duncan), hatters Michel, and a number of small specialist companies providing embroidery, feathers, other essentials, trimmings.
As far as I know, Chanel keeps the production of its signature clothes in France, and seems to treat its acquired brands with respect: Edward Green created a beautiful but short-lived ready-to-wear line for Massaro, and raised Barrie’s profile with a smart boutique.
Charvet was a natural choice for Chanel, having what Hilditch & Key Paris did not, despite a long recent history with Chanel. Charvet has – especially for foreigners – an important French.
And Charvet has its own workshops, which means it can still create Chanel’s couture prototypes or the occasional high-end collaboration to get people talking, like the latest catwalk model for Chanel designer Matthieu Blazy.
Will Chanel keep what is quintessentially Charvet? Unmatched linens, elegant ties, and sparkling gowns are inseparable from Charvet’s identity. I think they will remain, the essence of Charvet like its rare perfume bottles.
Will Chanel leave Charvet’s secret and forgotten corners, where wonders can still be found, undisturbed? Time will tell. Chanel bought Charvet, and Chanel bought Charvet’s time.
*Pen name of author, PS reader and regular forum contributor