David and Goliath: Colle and Chanel
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As goes Sony, so goes Chanel. After reading the piece to which you linked, Lisa, I’ve decided *no mas*, as it were. Not even a bottle of nail polish, thankyouverymuch. I’m hardly one of the brand’s target customers—my sole Chanel suit was bought second-hand (I prefer to call it “early 90’s vintage”, ahem); other than that, the only Chanel stuff in my wardrobe are bits and pieces of costume jewelry picked up at estate sales.
They won’t miss me, in other words.
But what a shame this is, in every sense of the word! And what irony, too: here is a multinational corporation that all began, literally, with the *petite mains* of a single, stylish woman who had a dream. And now, the tentacular monster said corporation has become is headed up by a male designer (albeit an extremely, if inconsistently, talented one) and is seemingly devoted to crushing small and brilliant stars like Mme. Colle.
Ah well…for what it’s worth, I shall, in her honor, shall dig out something intricately crocheted to wear this week. And when people ask me for the backstory, as they inevitably do, I’ll be sure to remind them to please stop feeding the multinational monsters and instead support the art of the artisans.
Sundance Channel aired a couple of hour-long documentaries that offered a back-stage look a the industry, including the relationship between some of the elite designers and their skilled ateliers. It is clearly a mercenary and in a way deeply precarious relationship with a great imbalance of power. I hope the Colle case helps to right the scales a bit in favor of the amazing textile artists who actually make the clothing.
Chanel will spend more than two million Euros to fight this claim, instead of simply paying and backing off. Shame on them. At their prices, two million Euros is pocket change. Have never cared for Chanel’s designs, and like them even less now.
Here’s hoping that justice will be served and Madame Colle and her workers win the case against Chanel.
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