Four or five pieces. That's the most any Chanel boutique gets of a single design right now. This is Fashion Business Daily. Chanel's fashion president on a year of Matthieu Blazy, Goldman Sachs says luxury priced itself into the slump, Marc Jacobs starts life after LVMH, and Donatella Versace goes into business with Revolve. If today's show was useful, follow us wherever you're listening — the next one will be waiting.
Joelle Diderich, writing in WWD, interviewing Chanel president of fashion Bruno Pavlovsky:
While Pavlovsky declined to comment on leaked first-half figures, which said comparable revenue rose 16 percent during the first six months of the year, the executive confirmed Chanel is ahead of the pack.
So, to be precise: that 16 percent is a leaked figure, not a Chanel disclosure. On the record, Pavlovsky says Chanel is significantly outperforming the market, with the U.S., Europe and Japan doing well and China and the rest of Asia surprisingly resilient. Chanel has also topped the Lyst ranking of the hottest brands for the last two quarters. This is the counterargument to every efficiency memo we've read lately. Chanel didn't cost-cut its way here. It hired Blazy, people posted videos of hourlong queues, and then it hired 30 more people for the studio. That's the widest studio reorganization since Karl Lagerfeld took over in 1983. One studio used to turn out ten collections a year. Now there are three teams: haute couture, ready-to-wear, and Métiers d'Art plus cruise. Yet at least 90 percent of suppliers are the same. And the scarcity math is wild. Runs of 80 to 1,200 pieces per design, split across 250 boutiques, no pre-orders, and a shelf life of two to three months. Which is a different scarcity story from the one UBS questioned at Hermès yesterday. Chanel says it isn't under-ordering, it's how fast the product turns. But note the hedge: on 2027, Pavlovsky says he remains extremely cautious. Blazy was set to show spring 2027 at the Grand Palais last night, so the second-year test starts now.
Vahid Karaahmetovic, writing in Investing.com:
Analysts led by Erwan Rambourg said the slowdown in sales has been driven less by macro headwinds than by "aggressive pricing and a slower pace of innovation, both potentially linked to a degree of strategic inertia." The team noted that traditional luxury brands raised prices by about 60% between mid-2019 and mid-2026, pushing consumers toward both higher-end and more accessible brands.
Yesterday we had Goldman's sell call on Hermès. This is the rest of its initiation: ten European luxury stocks, only four Buys. Richemont, LVMH, Moncler and Prada. Kering, Burberry, Brunello Cucinelli and Zegna get Neutral. Hermès and Swatch get Sell. These are analyst views, not company numbers. Sixty percent in seven years, and the bags didn't get sixty percent better. Goldman calls it strategic inertia. I'd call it running out of ideas and charging more for the old ones. Goldman is actually bullish on the turn. It sees organic growth across its coverage going from 6 percent in 2026, on easy comparisons, to 7 percent in 2027, with the U.S. still outperforming, a mechanical rebound in the Middle East, and China stabilizing. Its LVMH target is 500 euros, on leather goods rebounding from 2027. And where is LVMH now? Per boerse-global, around 379 euros, down 40 percent this year, with third-quarter revenue due Monday, October 12. The same report, citing Reuters, says the Arnault family plans to fold Christian Dior SE into its holding company Agache, which would then hold 49.76 percent of LVMH's capital and 65.55 percent of the votes. Simplifying the family tree while the stock is down 40 percent. Somebody's timing is good.
Eric Wilson, writing in The Business of Fashion:
Excluding licenses, roughly 90 percent of Marc Jacobs sales came solely from commercial handbags and accessories in 2025, an astounding proportion for a designer whose influential runway collections are writ so large on the global fashion consciousness.
In May, WHP Global and G-III Apparel each paid 425 million dollars for an equal share of the Marc Jacobs intellectual property, and G-III separately bought the operating business, taking its total to about 500 million. Sources told BoF the brand, including licenses, had sales around 800 million dollars in 2025. The operating business is expected to do about 360 million this fiscal year. Ninety percent bags. The most important American designer of his generation, and the business is the Tote Bag. Jacobs says they just couldn't get LVMH's backing for affordable ready-to-wear. Which is exactly G-III's plan. Morris Goldfarb says a diffusion ready-to-wear line could arrive as soon as next year, positioned a notch below the old Marc by Marc Jacobs, which did some 400 million dollars at department stores in its heyday. He wants Marc Jacobs to be a billion-dollar business excluding licenses, because G-III has been losing its Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger licenses as PVH brings them in-house. The good news: Goldfarb says the runway shows stay. The less good news: he'll decide whether some of the roughly 35 full-price North American stores get wound down. And sources say Jacobs has about two years left on his contract. Goldfarb was also blunt about buying from LVMH: diligence is limited and negotiating is kind of off the table. In his words, it's what Mr Arnault wants, basically. Jacobs knows history says designers leave after these sales. My test is whether the diffusion line feels like Marc, or like a licensee doing an impression of him.
Valentina Za and Elisa Anzolin, reporting for Reuters:
News of the partnership comes as luxury goods group Prada works to relaunch the Versace brand, which it acquired in 2025 for about €1.3 billion ($1.5 billion).
The partnership: on Monday, New York-listed Revolve Group unveiled a joint venture with Donatella Versace to create a new beauty and fashion business aimed at younger consumers, on an entirely new online platform. Revolve had 1.2 billion euros in sales last year. So Prada pays 1.3 billion euros for Versace, hires Pieter Mulier to relaunch it, and the most famous Versace alive starts something new with an online retailer. Awkward dinner party. For context, Donatella, 71, was creative director until March 2025, when she became the brand's chief ambassador. Prada hired Mulier, formerly at Richemont-owned Alaïa, in February, and his first collection is due early next year. A Prada representative declined to comment. The test is whether there's real product here or just a famous name on a landing page. Younger shoppers spot the difference fast. The open question is how it sits next to Prada's relaunch. One owner is rebuilding the house, while the person most associated with it builds something new elsewhere.
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On the calendar from here: LVMH's third-quarter revenue on Monday, October 12, Chanel's cruise show in Sydney on November 5, and whether G-III's Marc Jacobs diffusion line lands next year. Thanks for spending part of your Tuesday with us. We're back tomorrow. Fashion Business Daily is a Lantern Podcast.