Hi, welcome back to Line Sheet. And welcome back to the real world. Summer was great, and now it’s over, okay?

If you’re in the U.S., I hope you enjoy the long weekend. Given our situation over here—Labor Day is the one day where nobody is supposed to work, for real—I will send my first email of the week on Tuesday, September 3. (I just glanced at the Google doc and it’s already packed. You’re welcome.) Excited to see y’all next week.

Today, though, I’ve got lots of fun stuff, with big news from Telfar, a major development in the Chanel creative director search, and, as usual, a whole lot more. Sometimes I give too much away up top, so that’s all you get for free for today. (Or, you know, you could subscribe to Puck. I honestly think you’d be a happier person if you did it.)

🚨🚨Programming note: Tomorrow on Fashion People, I’m joined by Edie Parker founder Brett Heyman. You might know her as the designer of cute acrylic clutches (ideal for nail tapping), or as a Gucci P.R., or as a purveyor of legal cannabis products. We get into all that and much, much more. Listen here.

Mentioned in this issue: Telfar, the “Bushwick Birkin,” La Maison, Victoria’s Secret, Tyra, Gigi, Adam Sandler’s Khaite bag, Chanel, Virginie Viard, Karl Lagerfeld, Simon Porte Jacquemus, Gap Inc., Abercrombie, Fashion Nova, Chloé Spring 1999, and many more…

• Telfar is launching real leather: I was thinking that I hadn’t heard about Telfar for a while. The company, founded 20-some years ago by Telfar Clemens, often dips in and out. They don’t attempt to make a moment every fashion month, or even every year. This fall, however, they’re launching real leather handbags—with materials sourced from a supplier that The Row uses to make their Margaux bags. The rollout will include a four-week pop-up at Selfridges in London. They’re also hoping to open a store in New York, I hear, somewhere downtown. No news yet on the pricing, which will inevitably be higher than the polyurethane-polyester blend that the brand typically uses for bags. (A large shopper, embossed with the Telfar T, is $257. A real-leather tote from Mansur Gavriel is $795.) A rep for Telfar declined to comment.

• We’re getting our show, guys!: Remember when I told you about a new Apple TV+ series, filmed in France last summer, billed to me as “Emily in Paris meets Succession”? Well, a trailer for La Maison is here, and I don’t want to get too excited, but it… delivers?

• Victoria’s Secret’s actual problem: The company, which posted better-than-expected second-quarter results yesterday, also recently announced that its runway show would return to New York on October 15. Sounds like that whatever happens, it will air (somewhere) that same day, whereas in the past the show was filmed in front of a live audience but aired on television weeks or months later.
• You thought I wouldn’t figure it out?: Are you still wondering what was in Adam Sandler’s Khaite bag? According to my spies, his wife purchased some clothes on a recent trip to the store, including the $3,400 Bellow coat. This is a beautiful piece. It’s chocolate brown “soft” viscose with black satin lapels, single-breasted, and features a lovely seamed waist. Maybe you should buy it.

But the 30-year company veteran’s abrupt exit in June did not occur as expected, with the ejection occurring mid-afternoon on a Wednesday and the news dripping out mere hours later. As one person close to the company put it to me, succession had been discussed at length, and Viard was going to be extended a graceful departure befitting a longtime, loyal employee. Alas, for some reason—presumably Viard’s frustration, people being petty, etcetera—the news came out fast and furious and far more abruptly than planned.

The botched handling of the timeline may be the most plausible explanation to date for why, nearly three months later, Chanel has yet to replace Viard. Instead, rumors have abounded in her absence. There were the people who believed Hedi Slimane was already hard at work in the atelier. (We could dream.) Gabriella Hearst? (Would love to know where that one came from…) Others suggested that they would take their time—that Chanel didn’t really need a creative director, at least for a while, and that the eventual occupant didn’t really matter since the position would inevitably be reduced in scope compared to what was expected of the late Karl Lagerfeld.