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Changing the Chanel

While the world awaits the Blazy era, the Wertheimer family is making moves—instituting layoffs, a restructuring, and most tellingly, the appointment of a new board member known for taking companies public.

alain Gerard Wertheimer
It’s no wonder the appointment of three outsiders—including one with I.P.O. experience—is fueling questions about whether the Wertheimers could take Chanel public. Photo: Ammar Abd Rabbo/Abaca Press/Alamy Stock Photo
Lauren Sherman
January 20, 2025

Last Saturday, Taylor Swift arrived at Arrowhead Stadium for the Chiefs-Texans game wearing a head-to-toe Chanel look from Virginie Viard’s final, derided collection, as dreary as the rainy day in Marseille last May, when it was first shown. The outfit itself, a little black romper topped with a brocade anorak and decorated with a jangly pearl belt, was inoffensive. (It was Swift’s own additions—in particular, tights and a pair of knee-high black boots—that took it from okay to tacky.) But enough about the Blake Lively-inspired look. What’s Chanel’s strategy here?