Trunk show at Saks: info, info, info.

cjj

O.G.
Mar 3, 2007
1,114
532
Hit the show as soon as the store opened. Here is what I saw:

*flaps, flaps and more flaps. Lots of metallic, gold, silver, pewter, bronze, glitter-look, patent, patent w/chains trimming the flap (the "weenus" bag)

*LOTS of patent for fall. ALL OF IT IS VYNAL. And let me tell you, it feels CHEAP. Best way to describe it is; it feels just like cellophane. Lots of hardware with them, gold and silver. Red, black, dk. grey, hunter green, burgandy, all shiny and geared toward the 20-something age bracket (as per the Chanel rep and the CHanel buyer who I chatted with for some time).

*The glazed calfskin is BIG. Makes the bags fell super soft and is supposed to be even MORE durable than caviar. That's what the reps said. You will see more and more of this. Customers want the softness of lambskin but durability of caviar. Here you go.

*Colors: don't bother w/Saks unless you want black, dk. grey or dk. brown. They bought only these shades in the majority of the lines. The Crazy 8 (I believe that is the name- I'm down for one) come in 6 gorgeous colors- Navy is beautiful- Saks ONLY bought black and grey in this line. You'll have to go to Neimans or the boutiques to get the additional shades. The totes all look roughly the same. Some interesting bag shapes, but nothing going WOWIE WOW.

*The Brooklyn: I'm getting this one, which is a large e/w tote that is a patchwork of glazed calfskin and patent leather (NOT vinyl). Sound "eh", but is really a gorgeous bag w/heavy silver hardware. Black only in Saks.

*lots of "puffy" pieces. LOTS.

*Limited edition: I would have gone for this if the hardware had been silver; only gold. It's a black lambskin clutch flap, with 2 chains that go across the front of the flap. One of the chains is a strand of CHanel pearls. This strand unhooks and becomes a Chanel necklace; GORGEOUS. Same quality, design and pearls used in Chanel Timeless strand of pearls. Also, it has a little fob that hangs down from one end and is a mirror. Can come off and be attatched to any Chanel purse, key chain, etc. $2600, there about.

Ok, some info: PRICES. According to the rep, Chanel corporate has been bombarded by customer calls, letters and emails about the price increases and they are PISSED. She says it is due to the Euro, and NO ONE who is an employee is thrilled, because they have 1) lost discount privilidges (how much they can buy is much less than before is what she hinted at), and the price has gone up for them too. The Classic line (not flaps) had not seen price increase in about 10 years. The new head pooh-ba wanted to bring them up to current costs. Also, and I found this very hard to believe, but she SWEARS it's true; CHanel did NOT make their financial goal last year in the purse/assessories/shoe division. They are still in the negative.

PINK: Pink is NOT NOT NOT being removed from the classic line. Chanel went bonkers and made WAY TOO MUCH of it and they have it sitting in warehouses all over. So, they are SLOWLY bringing it into stores in order to create a "hunger" for the product. NO NEW PINK ITEMS will be brought out, as per the rep, for the next year at least. So, no need to go crazy if you love pink.

ATTITUDES: Apparently corporate has ALSO heard about the snottiness of sales staff. They now have a new way of grading employees and want customers to contact them w/day, place and name of sales person if you have ANY problems. Again, this came from the Chanel rep.

Overall, the bags didn't wow me. Love the texture, but not thrilled that Saks didn't buy some of the lovely shades many of the bags came in. DO love the texture of the leather, however. The glazed calfskin is really beautiful. I also didn't realize (at first) that the Chanel rep goes to ALL the stores on the east coast; I though she was the Saks rep. No, she is EVERYONES liason to Chanel corporate and had book after book of pictures, colors, etc. She could tell me which store ordered what, what colors and how many shades to a specific store. Very nice person; no attitude WHAT SO EVER.

Last but not least: those who want Jumbos w/the OLD chain; they are out there in the warehouses and should be arriving soon. Will NOT be discontinued. I am on the list for a black jumbo w/silver and have no worries that it won't come in.

MAny of the new line ships June 1. The majority of the line is STILL being made, so no samples. Cruise (fall) is FULL of bright, hot, fun colors. Even the shoes will be HOT (her words, lol).

Well, HTH everyone and if you have any questions, I'll do my best to answer while everything is still fresh. Oh, and I saw NOTHING under $2200. NOTHING.

Oh, and I apologize for my spelling. Up all night w/the baby, 2 1/2 hours to get to Saks (usually 45 minutes, but the Beltway was a nightmare) and no caffine. :nuts:
 
:tup: Thank you very much!! I am so impressed that you remember everything! I am glad to hear that Jumbo is not in shortage....did you ask about the price increase in Sept by any chance?? thanks again!!!
 
Wow, you have a great memory as it is! Thx for the details. Pretty sad that there's nothing under 2200k but oh well, that's chanel.

Don't think I'll be getting anything from their fall line but I have to say their LE piece sounds intriguing. I won't get one but interesting nonetheless.
 
Mkarya, actually, I didn't have to; the Chanel rep brought it up. It was kinda strange; she asked me, very quietly, if I had heard about the price increases. It was if she was ashamed of it. That's when I asked her what was going on. She sighed and then said what I wrote about in my first thread. The Euro is really a big deal, plus the money Chanel lost last year. ALL the bags are up there in price; I actually got the feeling that once she realized I had a few and new what I was looking for, that I was NOT going to be impressed by the cellophane the new bags are made of. She passed over them and we talked about the leathers, the evening line, LE, cruise, etc.

Oh, edited to add, that there are quite a few leathers that are CHEAPER than the plastic bags. Go figure.
 
Thanks for the heads up! You did really good, Its just like you might have been taking notes! In least I can count on getting one nice black leather bag for fall / Autumn!
 
It's hard to believe Chanel lost money with their handbag/shoes. I feel like I'm rushing to get a certain bag before they all sell out.

Anyway, thanks for all the info!:smile:
 
Bronze 2.55; I'm going to say yes. (but don't kill me if I'm wrong :wtf:). There was a table full of all the new flaps; colors and textures and there would be 1 color representing many of the flaps. There was

gold
gold metallic
gold glitter-like
silver
silver metallic
pewter
patent
tweeds
bronze
exotic skins
fuzzy (wth it was I DON'T know)
lambskin- mainly dark shades


Crazy eight: refers to the link that attatches the handle to the purse. Image 2 triangles on top of each other, joined at a point; sorta looks like a "crazy 8". VERY soft, VERY nice and cushy, 2 different styles. I LOVED the navy but saks did not order it. I on the list for it, but I'll probably go w/the Brooklyn. We'll see. HTH
 
Lol. Well, you get a bag AND a necklace, all by Chanel. How many bags can you say will do THAT?! Plus, it's a limited edition and a very sophisticated clutch. Sure. Like I said, if the hardware had been in silver, I would have seriously looked into it.
 
Thanks for this. I would have forgotten every damn word she said and when i came back to report the whole story would have been twisted sideways !!! lol MY memory is SHOT!!!
Thanks for this. this is great info. we all need to know this..