For many years now Karl Lagerfeld and Chanel have been producing some of the world's most preposterous and overpriced sporting goods.
First there was the Chanel snowboard with trompe l'oeil "quilting"; then $2,5000 Chanel skis. More recently the fashion house has produced a Chanel's $12,000 bike, a pink Chanel tennis racket complete with tennis balls and a Chanel boomerang.
And now, here is the luxurious fly-fishing rod from the latest Chanel sports collection, priced at just under $20,000. It seems to be a Karl Lagerfeld’s personal tribute to Coco Chanel and her love of the relaxing sport !
For a mere £9,170 the ponciest angler on the planet can kit himself out with a Chanel rod and a set of meticulously tied, monochrome Chanel flies, complete with the famous "double C" logo on the gossamer wings, presented in a rather fetching, quilted black leather box.
Saturday, June 14, 2008
The Chanel Fly-fishing Rod
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Chanel Vintage Quilted Shoulder Bag
Chanel's revolutionary quilting comes to life in this elegant vintage shoulder bag. The zip top opens to a maroon leather lining, zip pocket and two opens pockets. Two elegant chain-and-leather straps complete the look.
It's available online for $4639!
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Chanel Fine Jewelry Camélia Collection
The Camélia was Mlle. Chanel’s favorite flower and she adorned herself with this bloom often, so much so, that the Camélia is an important part of the company’s branding.
The collection features 3 themes: Camélia Sculpté (sculpted black onyx and white cacholong with diamonds), Fil de Camélia (white gold with diamonds) and Camélia Ajouré (yellow gold).
The Camélia Sculpté collection is a twist on Mlle. Chanel’s favorite color combination: “Feminine and delicate, . . . [the Camélia Sculpté collection] draws on the refinement and perfect harmony of the contrast between black and white, the two fundamental colours [sic] of Chanel.” The Fil de Camélia collection is for the girls who consider diamonds to be their best friend.
“This is an irregular line that emphasizes the perfect curves of the iconic Chanel flower and the faultess contours of its petals.” And finally, the Camélia Ajouré collection is a very modern, airy interpretation of the iconic flower. “The feminine curves of the Chanel flower form a breezy mesh of fluide geometric effects and stylized lace impressions on the skin.”
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Watch without time is a hit at luxury trade fair
Luxury watchmakers are well positioned to escape a possible slowdown in consumer spending as they target wealthy customers who are increasingly willing to splash out on extravagant and unique watches.
Swiss watchmaker Romain Jerome's "Day&Night" watch -- which does not tell the time, only whether it is night or day -- sold out within 48 hours of its launch earlier this year as watch fanatics snapped up the $300,000 timepiece.
"When you ask people what is the ultimate luxury, 80 percent answer 'time'. Then when you look at other studies, 67 percent don't look at their watch to tell what time it is," Chief Executive Yvan Arpa told Reuters on Friday at Baselworld, the watch and jewellery industry's largest annual trade fair.
"Why do people buy expensive watches? To have a trophy. A watch (costing) $9 gives the time as well as a watch at $500,000, so they really buy a trophy," Arpa said.
The "Day&Night" watch uses the complicated Tourbillon movement -- invented to overcome earth's gravity which used to affect the accuracy of watches -- which lures watch connoisseurs as well as fashion aficionados.
The Geneva-based company, founded in 2004, also has an order backlog of up to two-and-a-half years for its "Titanic DNA" watch, which is made from steel and coal from the Titanic and can cost as much as $500,000.
"If you do something that is different, which is interesting, it pays," Arpa said.
NEW MARKETS BOOM
Luxury watchmakers are also banking on buoyant demand from emerging markets, such as Asia and the Middle East to offset a slowdown in the United States.
"The first quarter of the year has been very good -- following the same trend as last year and last year was a record year for the watch industry and for the major luxury companies in general," Philippe Mougenot, president of Chanel's fine jewellery and watches division, told Reuters.
"Now we are a bit on the look out to see what consumption will be (like) within the next months in the States ... There is a lot of psychologically negative talk through the press and this may have some impact," Mougenot said.
"But the big difference now (compared) with 10 years ago is that we have new markets that were not existing at that time," he said.
Chanel has seen its high-end watch and jewellery products selling "astonishingly well". One its most pricey pieces is the "J12 18 place Vendome" watch, costing 550,000 euros ($864,100).
And the head of Swiss watchmaker La Montre Hermes, part of French luxury group Hermes International, has also seen strong sales.
"During a crisis, people have another level of consciousness. It doesn't mean that they will not buy, it is just that they are looking more carefully at what they buy," La Montre Hermes CEO Emmanuel Raffner told Reuters.
Friday, February 29, 2008
GUCCI reigns as the Most Coveted luxury brand in the world
Gucci, the flagship brand of French luxury group PPR, is the world’s most coveted luxury brand according to a global luxury brands survey by The Nielsen Company.
In the latest survey, one in five global consumers said they would choose to buy Gucci (over any other luxury brand) if money was no option, making the Italian fashion brand that was revived by Tom Ford in the 1990’s the most coveted and aspirational luxury brand in the world today.
Chanel and Calvin Klein tied for second place in Nielsen’s 48-country global online survey that was conducted in November 2007. In fourth place came Louis Vuitton, followed by Giorgio Armani, Christian Dior and Versace.
Two years ago in the same survey, Gucci shared top honours in the survey with Giorgio Armani – which has since slipped to fourth place in current global rankings. “It’s an incredible achievement for Gucci to remain at the top of the most coveted league table for luxury brands,” said Patrick Dodd, President Europe, The Nielsen Company. “In the past two years, Gucci has managed to maintain and even increase its brand equity in a very competitive and fickle industry. They have achieved this by consistently embedding their core brand values in all their branded products, which range from perfume and sunglasses to accessories, jewellery handbags and ready-to-wear fashion,” noted Dodd.
According to the survey, if money was no object, 41% of Indians and 37% of UAE consumers said they would choose Gucci.
Source : Nielsen - Fulll Press release
Monday, February 25, 2008
Contemporary Art: Chanel “Mobile Art” Exhibition Pavilion
the “Mobile Art” exhibition of Chanel will début its worldwide tour in Hong Kong this month. Resulting from a collaboration between Architect Zaha Hadid and Karl Lagerfeld this boundary-breaking project will tour from 2008 to 2010 from Hong Kong to Paris, Tokyo, New York, LA, London and finally Moscow.
The Chanel Contemporary Art Container - a collapsible, futuristic pavilion - is a celebration of Chanel’s cultural importance and displays the brand’s heritage in a new way. Chanel commissioned fifteen internationally renowned contemporary artists to create works inspired by the iconic quilted Chanel 2.55 shoulder bag which was originally introduced by Coco Chanel in February 1955.
The form of the Chanel Pavilion is a celebration of the iconic work of Chanel, unmistakable for its smooth layering of exquisite details that together create an elegant, cohesive whole. The resulting structure is very much tied to that original inspiration—elegant, functional, and versatile both in its overall structure and detail.
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