Chanel

Chanel is the house that invented modern luxury and has spent over a century daring anyone to argue otherwise. Founded in 1910 by Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel in Paris, the maison built its empire on a series of design revolutions that rewired how women dress: the little black dress, the tweed suit, the quilted 2.55 handbag, the No. 5 fragrance. Each became a cultural artifact before it became a product. Under Karl Lagerfeld from 1983 to 2019, Chanel transformed from a storied Parisian house into the most commercially dominant fashion brand on the planet, generating over $17 billion in annual revenue. Virginie Viard succeeded Lagerfeld but stepped down in June 2024. The house then made one of its biggest creative bets in decades, appointing Matthieu Blazy as artistic director. Blazy arrived from Bottega Veneta, where his obsession with craft and material innovation earned critical adoration. His mandate at Chanel is to bring that same rigor to the house's codes while pushing them forward for a new generation. Chanel's K-entertainment strategy has been one of the most sustained in luxury fashion. Jennie of BLACKPINK has served as Chanel Global Ambassador since 2017, making her one of the longest-running K-pop luxury partnerships in the industry. She has been a fixture at Paris Fashion Week front rows, starred in Coco Crush fine jewelry campaigns, and worn custom Chanel across red carpets from Cannes to the Met Gala. Through her label ODD ATELIER, Jennie manages her brand relationships independently, and the Chanel partnership remains the anchor of her fashion identity. The house has also invested in the next generation, tapping NewJeans as brand ambassadors to extend its reach into Gen-Z audiences. The group's youthful, retro-inflected aesthetic aligns naturally with Chanel's own ability to reference its archive while remaining contemporary. Chanel remains privately held by the Wertheimer family, a rarity among mega-brands that gives it the freedom to operate on its own timeline. No quarterly earnings calls, no shareholder pressure, no obligation to explain creative decisions to anyone outside the house. That independence is the ultimate luxury, and Chanel wields it accordingly.