CHINA'S -HIGH SPENDERS- CHARMS : CHANEL PRECIS

 

Style : ' The answer to the China question '.  Chanel goes all out to strengthen a bond with 600 of its most loyal high spenders. 

WHAT do you do if you are a fashion house possessed of the most coveted open designer job in the business, the subject of manic rumors and speculation, with the world watching every move you make for a hint of announcements to come?

If you are CHANEL, you hold the first mega-show of a European luxury brand in Hangzhou, China, invite about 1,100 guests, including Tilda Swinton, Lupita Nyong'o, Liu Wen and about 600 local V.I.C.s - very important clients - and get on business with usual.

Meaning, in this case, you offer a bit of glamorous outreach to a customer segment that after years of explosive growth has been very publicly slowing down its spending, sending the fortunes of many global fashion brands dropping.

Chanel, the second largest luxury brand in the world, with 2023 revenues of almost $20 billion, has not been immune.

And if the V.I.C.s - which is to say, clients who annually spend at least $20,000, and possibly as much as $500,000 with the company - won't go to the brand, the brand will go to them.

The World Students Society thanks Vanessa Friedman.