What Happened to Chanel's Growth?

Added: 2026-05-24

[00:00:00]Hey guys, thank you so much for joining me in another video. So today we're going to be talking about Chanel. And I think overall there's something interesting happening in luxury fashion.

[00:00:11]Over the last few weeks, we've been talking about how these luxury brands have been doing. We've been talking about LBMH Caring. We've been talking about this luxury slowdown, this post-pandemic correction, and now we're seeing the numbers from Chanel in 2025.

[00:00:25]What fascinates me is not just the report itself. I think it's actually the media reaction to it, the headlines, the narratives around this, and the way Chanel's performance has been framed.

[00:00:36]This says a lot about the state of fashion media today and how luxury brands shape perception. So, we're going to talk about that, but we'll first start off with what actually happened with Chanel in 2025. And I really want to talk about some key points here. And this is to emphasize this with Chanel's performance in 2025. So, they reported the revenue grew 1.8% 8% to 19.3 billion in 2025. And when you compare that to the rest of luxury, for instance, LVMH sales dipped by 1%, caring was down 10%.

[00:01:07]So there's that side. And not all luxury was down. Hermes was up by nearly 9%, product group was up boosted heavily by Miumu. What was also interesting was Chanel's growth was led by the Americas, which were up by 7.2%. Europe group by 2.5% driven largely by France, Italy, and Spain. Asia-Pacific, which remains Chanel's biggest region, was actually down by8%. Although they did improvements, particularly in South Korea and Japan. So, there's that. But I think one of the biggest stories was clearly the success of the Chanel 25 bag. I think this was probably the IT bag of 2025. Like, if we think about bags in 2025, what were the hottest bags? I think it was probably the Chanel 25. This was actually a design that we saw from Virgin EVR's final collection, Cruz 2025 collection, and Chanel continued pushing this style heavily throughout 2025. We're still seeing it in 2026. They just had a major campaign with Margot Robbie. This is a bag that they are promoting and it has done incredibly well commercially. They had a big push around this bag. It's a bag that many consumers responded to. I think it's stylistically has all of the hallmarks of what makes a bag feel very now. That aside, Chanel also performed well with beauty, fragrance, watches, and jewelry also did well. The success of Chanel Sean Opplendid, their skincare, Coco Crush jewelry lines, high jewelry overall was reported as doing well. But another interesting point from this reporting cycle was the continued speculation around Chanel's men's wear, especially after we've seen many men's wear ambassadors. Pedro Pascal, ASAP Rocky, these new era ambassadors wear this product. Of course, this new era is from 2026, but but I thought was interesting, as mentioned in Vogue here, Chanel says men's wear is quote not on the agenda, but they also emphasize that looking at men's wear has been a part of Chanel's DNA. And I think that's an interesting positioning of the brand, a way at which the brand in 2026 is speaking to a new client, like a whole new demographic. And I think Chanel understands that modern luxury branding is no longer about strict categories.

[00:03:15]It's about this aspiration and cultural participation. At this point, they don't necessarily need a full men's wear line if men are already buying Chanel bags, Chanel jackets, other accessories like belts, things like that. They've shut down the idea that they're doing men's wear. But I can't help but see the marketing and notice that there is a huge push to create fashion that I think appeals to the luxury men's wear client.

[00:03:40]And just stepping back and looking at some of these reports, what do they actually tell us? First of all, Chanel was recovering from a weak 2024. It needs to be pointed out that Chanel's revenues declined by 4.3% in 2024. This is a theme we saw across much of luxury, like specific brands. The brands that got hit the hardest were usually brands that a became extremely hot during the pandemic. Chanel, Louis Vuitton, etc., Gucci, and B pushed extremely aggressive price increases. Chanel was one of the leading brands on that front. Like, they've had some of the most extreme price increases during those few years.

[00:04:19]Of course, there was a luxury boom during the pandemic. And during that luxury pandemic boom, Chanel raised their prices aggressively, sometimes multiple times per year. And eventually they started losing consumers. What did Chanel do? They use this moment as an opportunity to reset creatively. We saw Virgini exit the house. Matchy Buzzy was appointed. His first collection debuted October 2025 and reach stores March 2026. And the key thing here is we actually do not yet know the real commercial impact of the Match Blazy era because I think what we're seeing right now is a lot of headlines and a lot of this reporting, they're kind of mixing in how 2025 was a year of growth with this new era of Mattyli. But again, what we're actually seeing are these numbers that reflect the transition period. And to me, I think the fashion media constantly overlooks the strengths of these design teams. And especially here, Chanel's internal design team. Because 2025, before Matchy Blazy arrived, Chanel's teams were still producing highly desirable products, continuation of the past era products, and the way that these products were promoted. This deserves more credit. Of course, the Chanel bag was incredibly successful design from Virgini that they continued in 2025 in new iterations, finishes, and new materials. And unlike many brands going through creative transitions, Chanel managed to weather the storm remarkably well. This has not happened with a lot of these other luxury brands.

[00:05:48]Another important part of Chanel's report is actually, I think, the regional growth. How well the US did and I think this is a major story. Even with the tariffs, even with economic uncertainty, even with the slowing luxury demand globally, American consumers are still spending heavily on Chanel. And I think it is no mistake that Chanel wanted to keep that momentum with the Meti Dar New York Subway collection. And I think this shows that Chanel understands strategically where they want to continue the momentum. They still want to continue the 25 bag. They still want to appeal to the American market. And when talking about the media, we've been seeing headlines like Chanel returns to growth as Blasy Mania kicks in or Blazy's designs wins over new shoppers. Like, we've been seeing those headlines. But I thought this point from Vogue was very noteworthy.

[00:06:33]Despite the buzz surrounding Chanel's collections, explosive growth shouldn't be expected. The executives plan to pursue steady incremental growth instead. Quote, "We've always taken an approach to growth that is right for the long-term strength and desiraability of our brand. Going back to 2025, all three businesses, fashion, fragrance and beauty, and watches and fine jewelry contributed to growth. We always invest and plan for the long term. This is our strength. Continuing on, Chanel is sticking to its price discipline. It passed on a price increase of 2 to 3% for the overall Chanel assortment in March 2026. With the currency fluctuation, we sometimes need to adjust pricing to maintain this price harmonization, but nothing significant beyond that. Blonde U says last year the pricing uplift at Chanel was 3% for the overall assortment, including 2% in fashion in line with global inflation.

[00:07:32]Chanel typically increases prices every March and September. Will it pass on an increase in September? we will review then if anything currencies fluctuate and it will need to adjust the prices to maintain harmonization. So I think what's interesting about this point is yes we saw a growth in 2025 of 1.8% but we also saw how last year they had a 3% price increase for the overall assortment. So interesting to look at that. Also I think they're going to have a price increase in September. And the way Chanel does their price increases, it's not like a flat 3% across all handbags. Like they're very strategic.

[00:08:11]If it's a desirable bag, I'm sure we'll see a price increase on the 25. I'm sure we're going to see a price increase on the relaxed maxi flap. Those bags that are highly sought after, we're going to see a price increase on those products.

[00:08:23]But with this reporting, I think we also have to talk about the power of the Chanel client. Of course, this was 2025, but Chanel has their Vic's and Chanel has spent decades cultivating and maintaining those relationships with those clients. It'll be interesting again to see this new Blazee era, how they're bringing in a new fashion focused client. Of course, we're seeing a strong demand for certain bags. Also noteworthy is the success of the shoes and how the shoes are priced at the 1,200 to 1,500 euro range and up. how these products create a pipeline and again products like the relaxed maxi flap. It's one of the hottest products.

[00:09:00]It was featured in the list index and clearly targeting I think a new client and I also think a men's wear client with this bag. Also noteworthy. This bag starts at around 8,500 which is significantly less than some of the classic flaps that go for 12,000. So, I think the big question here is, is this new client, are they going to be a loyal client to the likes of what we've seen from the past eras of VIC clients at Chanel, or is this a hype cycle? And this is not something we're going to know right away. And then I also think we're seeing Chanel, it's not just a fashion brand. This is a major difference between some of these other luxury houses. Chanel really succeeds in multiple categories. Growth was not just seen in fashion and leather goods, but also beauty, fragrance, jewelry, and watches. Even just the beauty and fragrance business alone, it's incredibly powerful. Chanel's always had such a stronghold on this category. It's an incredibly powerful entry point. But then they also at the very top top end of that pyramid, they have couture.

[00:09:59]There's also fine jewelry. Chanel has a pyramid that is stretched incredibly tall. And it proves that Chanel strength goes beyond the creative director, although the creative direction does create this like aura around the brand.

[00:10:13]So, those are some points I wanted to bring up, but I think ultimately this whole situation is a reminder, I think, to think critically about some of these headlines we're seeing because fashion media absolutely helps to shape these narratives. And many of these media publications, of course, are going to benefit financially from maintaining strong relationships with brands like Chanel and others. And as we're seeing, Chanel, in my view, has become incredibly sophisticated at portraying these narratives. I don't think Chanel has ever marketed itself as aggressively as we've seen in these past few months.

[00:10:47]Be it the strategy, the celebrity placement, the social media visibility, the product pushing and again we are in this era of social media and that is just the world we live in, but it feels far more active than previous eras. Of course, we don't have the full reporting on Machu Blazee, his era yet, but everything suggests that Chanel expects 2026 to be a major year, especially as it competes more aggressively against LVMH and Hermes and other brands at the very top of luxury. very