Kudos to Madison Avenue Spy for its meticulous reporting on an interesting phenomenon: It seems Chanel is upping the prices on its handbags for February, making what had seemed unattainable even more so.
How much, exactly, the pockets of the very rich and patient (most classic quilted styles have a long waiting list) Chanel shoppers will be affected varies from store to store, with numbers being cited anywhere between "a bit" to a 20 percent increase to hundreds of dollars. Right now, a classic jumbo caviar bag is about $2650, which seems a spectacular amount for the average person to pay, regardless, so boosting the price right now shows there's a demand that just can't be beat back by a word like recession.
Besides the ambiguous pricing changes, inventory throughout is pretty much scant, with waiting lists boasting the same mind-boggling hazy numbers, with fleets of shopgirls carrying respective lists of 10 each and the larger department stores looking at names in the dozens to get these unavailable, more expensive bags. Vintage shops and eBay are experiencing the same frenzied fluctuations with their new and gently used stocks as well. Alas, this just reinforces what insiders have always known: Inheritance or vintage really is the only way.
