According to Vogue, the dress pictured on the Chanel Pre-Fall 2014 runway above costs $122,000. Model Heather Marks was photographed in the item (Vogue March 2014, p. 600) for a feature about designer Karl Lagerfeld‘s Dallas-themed Chanel Metiers d’Art collection; the price appeared in the backpage fashion credits (p. 647) and was first spotted by MelancholyBaby in the tFS Forums.
Chanelcouture09 couldn’t believe it: “That must be some sort of typo? That’s on the same level as haute couture prices and only haute couture customers will be able to afford that.”
“Perhaps,” said Melancholybaby. “I just remembered this dress [pictured below] from the Fall 2013 RTW collection, listed in US Bazaar for $130,045.”
Although I couldn’t track down the price listing in Bazaar, I was able to locate the item on the brand website, which offers the price breakdown for most Chanel ready-to-wear runway looks. Disregarding the accessories, the outfit above is made up of two pieces: an embellished crepe dress priced at $8,520 and a “tweed caban fully embroidered with wool and pearl flowers.” The price for the latter item — which also appeared in the collection campaign — is only available upon request.
Lagerfeld does include a select number of couture-level pieces in his ready-to-wear collections, especially in the annual Métiers d’Art show. The Pre-Fall collection serves as a showcase for the house’s ten specialist ateliers (this was the subject of the aforementioned Vogue feature). These studios, which specialize in everything from button-making to feather work, were acquired by the French fashion house to preserve endangered craft traditions that are vital to couture. Although these ateliers are owned by Chanel, they are open to any luxury house.
So, writes Vogue (p. 602), “although the Métiers d’Art collections are ready-to-wear, it is of the most luxurious kind, with great dollops of haute couture-type grande luxe poured into them by Chanel’s ateliers.”
We’ve reached out to Chanel for comment and will update when we hear back.
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