Thoughts on Chanel vs WGACA & the evolving fashion landscape

In high school, I bought an oversized t-shirt on Canal Street in NYC with the Chanel logo blazoned across the front. I promptly cut the neckline a la Flashdance and wore it knotted in the back to ballet class until it was threadbare. I liked Chanel because it was started by a female designer (before I learned the Nazi bit), and I thought I was oh-so-clever to buy a fake T-shirt. (more like regrettable youthful ignorance)

Today I read in Vogue Business that Chanel is taking What Goes Around Comes Around (one of the first and very upscale vintage stores) to court for “selling counterfeit goods and implying affiliation with the French luxury house via advertising and marketing materials. The brand alleges that WGACA has been selling counterfeit bags associated with stolen serial numbers that Chanel had voided; selling counterfeit bags with features not corresponding to authentic ones with legitimate serial numbers; and selling non-genuine Chanel items that were not made for sale by the brand, such as display-only items.”

WGACA has denied this, so I am withholding judgment for now. But this has gotten me thinking about the current state of vintage.

I grew up thrifting and loved vintage clothes –my go-to dresses were sundresses from the ‘50s with cinched waists and full skirts, which I would accessorize with Doc Martens and flannel shirts. It was the height of Grunge. In Minneapolis –home of bands like Husker Du and Soul Asylum. #IYKYK

I first visited WGACA for a fashion week party in the early 2000s. The party was exclusive with many recognizable celebrities. I returned later in the week and saw the clothes were expensive –like absurdly expensive. Of course, recognizable name brands were expensive, but so were the plaid flannel shirts and denim. And the salespeople had attitudes that were a bit…frosty.

And I get it. They needed to differentiate from the thrift stores of my youth to get people to rethink secondhand as acceptable. Having a full stock of designer bags during the heyday of Sex and the City didn’t hurt either. But I never went back.

Now it’s 2024 and I feel this disconnect when I read about how WGACA would sell?anything?with the Chanel label on it (meaning things meant for store display, never meant to be sold at all).

I believe attitudes around vintage and secondhand have shifted.

If I want discount designer, I can check out the RealReal. And if I want unique vintage items, I can go to the Manhattan Vintage Show. More people than ever are shopping secondhand, and it has lost much of its stigma. Moreover, there are communities around it.

Depop is full of Gen-Z kids making their own labels by upcycling clothes. Amy Abrams and Ronen Glimer continue to evolve the Manhattan Vintage Show into something that feels more like a community celebration of fabulous vintage than a shopping experience.

I guess I’m saying that I feel like inclusivity is “in” and gate-keeping and “exclusivity” are out. So, while there is a market for these secondhand Chanel items and the brand has a certain aura, the very idea of a vintage boutique pushing all things Chanel feels dated.

My hope, if not prediction, for 2024 is that more people explore and embrace their personal style.

That kids upcycle items and start putting their?own?initials on them instead of a corporate stamp. That status items change from those brands that spend the most on marketing (and whose items cost the most) to those that do the best for people and the planet.

That ultimately, the evolving landscape of fashion reflects a more profound change: a move towards authenticity and sustainability, where the value of our items comes not from their brand but from their ability to express our unique identities and respect for our planet.

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