I want to talk about the o cases. I find the leather on the o cases in recent seasons are very thin. Colors are gorgeous but the quilts are flat. It’s very obvious if you have old one to compare. Very thin it feels like paper. And my SA agreed with me! I think that unacceptable because as we all know price for the o case has gone up. So I ended up picking up one from the previous season as it feels more substantial in my hand.
Quality getting worse.. Probably no more chanel :(
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Yikes!
Hahaha! I love your luxury play on six-degrees-of-separation- icky Jimmy Choo shoes to the thread title.
Excellent!I agree with you, but I have to add a comment. I’m in my mid-fifties, so I’ve lived through many quality changes. Fabrics are thinner. Televisions are disposable. Most leathers are not as sturdy (thick).
I attempted to make my own leather totes for fun a few years back. A guy who works at the tannery company near me educated me on the different leathers and thicknesses. Chanel leather tanning has changed over the years- the leather is skinned thinner because it’s less expensive to process.
You are definitely correct about the cattle differences, too. That plays a part in the leather, but it also depends on the ranch. Back in the old days, luxury companies like Chanel had specific ranches where they would harvest their leather. Very few companies harvest their own anymore- I think Hermès still does, and that’s why their quality hasn’t changed. So when a luxury company like Chanel decides to save money and buy less than luxury quality leather, I believe the company shouldn’t raise their prices hundreds of dollars a year over a few years time, or they should expect some clap back about leather quality.
It’s all about the profit margin nowadays. The leather, the hardware, and the low wage Italian factories.
Oh lovely ladies. I sent my 3 month old 19k grey bucket bag in for repair five weeks ago. The leather on the chain was getting stripped (see pic). They initially said it should take 3 months and today they called saying france needs to order parts and this would take another 6-12 months. Omg! I am beyond frustrated and totally see why you wouldn’t buy Chanel anymore. This is ridiculous. What would you do? Ask for it back and live with it? Wait for it to be repaired?
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Repair! It’s a lot of money to let go! How can a 3 month old bag looks like that?!
Send for repair for them to cover costs. I sometimes think they embellish time frames to put people off. I may be wrong though but 3 months in the strap shd not look like that. Bollocks to Chanel really, stuff like this really annoys me. Good luck
That’s ridiculous!
I’m unsure about your bag’s exact color, but it’s almost like they want to keep your bag until they have another season using the same color leather/hardware combo, so the repair doesn’t affect them.Perhaps you should contact Leather Surgeons and ask their opinion. I’ve contacted them with photos and they’ve been very honest about what I should do with my past bags. They may tell you it’ll just happen again.
If I were Chanel, I’d give you a credit for a new bag and apologize profusely.
I am so sorry. My heart goes out to you because of your disappointment about your whole experience. You probably feel so sick about this.
I would disagree here. I think it's up to Chanel to ensure their leathers are top quality. I was in the H boutique a few weeks ago, and she said Chanel is notorious for picking up other discarded lots of leather that were subpar to the more high end houses like Hermes. They are well known for making things as cheap as possible while still churning out bags in the tens of millions per year, all the while raising prices. Where does it not fall on them to ensure their factories obtain the best leathers available? Why do other much less expensive houses procure much finer leathers (much thicker, more supple and more beautiful) and charge half the price? Go check out a Givenchy mystic PLEASE. Just play with it a minute, the leather is STUNNING. It's not that finer leathers are no longer available, it's that Chanel thinks slapping a CC on a second rate leather will still be a cute trick to the masses who only want to be seen for wearing a CC. Oh the power of the logo.
Now I still buy plenty of Chanel, but more RTW these days where the quality hasn't suffered as much (including their leathers tsk tsk). Def more Hermes gal for the bags, but I stick to Chanel for the "fun factor".
Also their dye & tanning processes have really suffered. Their leathers are no longer dyed through, and as someone else pointed out, the thinner leathers make that already flawed process even more cost efficient.
One of my top SA for Chanel kind of right sized my thought process about Chanel leather goods. She said that Chanel was always a clothing house, and bags were just meant to show the clothes complete with accessories. Chanel has never touted itself as a leather goods specialist, nor should we ever expect that level of quality from them in that respect. First and foremost, they are haute couture and RTW, and leather and "jewelry" were just add-ons that were never meant to represent the brand the way they do now. (This is also why Chanel doesn't care too much for non-RTW customers).
Hey Chanel, if you're out there - charge me MORE! I don't care. But use the finest materials you can find, with impeccable craftsmanship. I will come back 100% b/c to me it's more about quality than price....
CHANEL: I have no choice! There’s no good leather out there anymore. I have to increase my price twice a year to ensure I can buy more second grade leather to make more handbags.
Hermes:......Am I a joke to you?
Hermes:......Am I a joke to you?
Of course Chanel is a clothing brand. But let’s be honest: When the leather goods segment of Chanel’s business is doing so well that it is basically representing the house and brand just as well as tweed jackets, Chanel, as a company, has the responsibility to pay close attention to the details on their handbags. Saying or implying “handbags are not our focus when Coco founded Chanel 100 years ago, so we are just following this tradition.” is such BS. It’s not “They can’t”. It’s “They don’t want to”.
But why didn’t they? Well because they know they can milk the heck out of it lolol. As customers, why do we have to find all kinds of excuses for this billion dollar company?
But why didn’t they? Well because they know they can milk the heck out of it lolol. As customers, why do we have to find all kinds of excuses for this billion dollar company?
I recently bought a classic flap that was crushed and uneven at the sides. The SA (not my usual one) had assured me it would even out when I put stuff in it. It didn’t, so I returned it. My usual SA spent a long time showing me some other classic flaps when they got them in. After looking at several I went home with one I thought was perfect but I’ve just got it home and I found a loose stitch (which, on its own, doesn’t bother me too much) and the base of the bag is not straight. It makes the front of the bag sit lower than the back so when you put the bag down it sort of leans forward. Has anyone had a flap like this before? I think that’s not acceptable for the price but it was a final exchange and the other options were very rough, dull and pebbly caviar whereas I wanted a shiny, softer-looking caviar that looks like lamb from a distance. I can’t do anything about it now so I’ll have to accept it but I just think it’s another example of declining quality. The flaps I bought several years ago were perfect.
408California408 has part two of the Chanel boots and Sak’s story up and running. Watching it makes me want to avoid Sak’s, and most department stores, for online purchases (in particular).
I looked at so many different classic flaps in black caviar before I settled on mine. I would not even have known how picky I had to be until a nice quality one and bad quality one were side by side in the store at the same time. The silver hardware one was so gorgeous! It looked nice and cushiony with a slight shine without it looking plasticy. It put a smile on my face. But I was looking for one with gold hardware at the time, and the gold one was so deflated and matte. I also wanted one made in France so I waited longer. I finally got a call from my SA that they got a France one in and I excitedly went to go look at it. It was horrible!! It was tilted forward just like you said. It would barely stand up. I held off and kept waiting. I eventually found a made in Italy one that worked for me. I realized it doesn’t matter if it’s Made in Italy or France or what series it is. You just have to go and look. Chanel’s quality control is horrible!!