Chanel to continue traditional collection pace

While Gucci has announced they will be going seasonless and only showing two collections a year, Chanel has said they intend to stick to the traditional collection pace including spring/summer, fall/winter, cruise, and couture. Chanel unveiled its cruise 2021 collection online today, and Bruno Pavlovsky, Chanel's president of fashion, said the normal pace of collections and runways will be resumed at Chanel once health conditions allow.

The virtual Chanel cruise show which debuted on the brand's platform and website marked the first that Chanel didn't present a new collection with a runway show, but in these trying times, brands must adapt. While Chanel's competitors are adjusting to a new fashion system, Chanel intends to resume business as usual.

While Chanel is traditionally one of the best performing luxury brands in the world, they too have been hit hard by coronavirus as their global network of stores closed. Pavlovsky said that the brand is still performing well in South Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong where stores are open, but overall a two digit drop in sales is expected.

Due to the store closures, Chanel will be keeping its spring collection in stores later and postponing the usual shipment of the Métiers d'Art line from May to July. Pre-fall will be delivered between July and September this year.

While many other brands have cancelled their couture collections which would usually debut at the upcoming Paris Couture Week, Chanel is presenting another virtual show on July 7 with sketches from artistic director Virginie Viard. Chanel is still hoping to show at Paris Fashion Week in October, as it will be their last show at the Grand Palais before the landmark closes for extensive renovations for the summer 2024 Olympics.

On the business operations front, half of Chanel's employees began returning to work as of May 11 when France began lifting coronavirus lockdown restrictions. The company's store associates are also focusing on their clienteling model, as Chanel still doesn't intend to make a big investment in e-commerce.

photo: via Chanel.com