House of Chanel

Chanel S.A.

Type	Société Anonyme
Industry	Fashion
Founded	1909; 108 years ago (1909)
Founder	Coco Chanel
Headquarters	135 Avenue Charles de Gaulle, 92200 Neuilly-sur-Seine Cedex, Paris, France
Number of locations	310
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Alain Wertheimer, co-owner Gérard Wertheimer, co-owner John Galantic, president (United States) and COO Olivier Polge, master perfumer Karl Lagerfeld, creative director
Products	Haute couture Ready-to-wear Perfume Jewellery Accessories
Revenue	$ 5.2 billion (2016)
Net income	€ 1.3 billion (2016)
Number of employees	1,270 (2010)
Website	www.chanel.com

Chanel S.A. (/ʃəˈnɛl/; French: [ʃaˈnɛl]) is a French, privately held company owned by Alain and Gérard Wertheimer, grandsons of Pierre Wertheimer, who was an early business partner of the couturière Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel. Chanel S.A. is a high fashion house that specializes in haute couture and ready-to-wear clothes, luxury goods and fashion accessories. In her youth, Gabrielle Chanel gained the nickname Coco from her time as a chanteuse. As a fashion designer, Coco Chanel catered to women’s taste for elegance in dress, with blouses and suits, trousers and dresses, and jewellry (gemstone and bijouterie) of simple design, that replaced the opulent, over-designed, and constrictive clothes and accessories of 19th-century fashion. The Chanel product brands have been personified by fashion models and actresses, including Inès de La Fressange, Catherine Deneuve, Carole Bouquet, Vanessa Paradis, Nicole Kidman, Anna Mouglalis, Audrey Tautou, Keira Knightley and Marilyn Monroe.