Chanel Bags- How Do I Get The Rare Pieces? — Lena and the City

Lets talk everything Chanel-

Whether you’re a veteran or a first time shopper, the process of buying an item from Chanel can in fact, be daunting. There are so many options, constant new limited edition pieces being released, and can we also talk about the insanely high price point? These are only a few of the factors that make this process so nerve wrecking because you’ll probably ask yourself multiple times if you’re picking the right piece.

Basic Tips-

KNOW WHAT YOU WANT! I can’t even begin to stress this enough! I say this because the second you step foot into a store, you’ll be over stimulated by all their beautiful pieces that are suddenly surrounding you! Without a doubt, this will make you have a wandering eye and you’ll start to second guess what you want, but don’t get side tracked and stick to what your dream piece is! And if that dream piece isn’t available, wait it out, DO NOT compromise just because it’s not available in that moment. Now this is where l‘ll go into how you can get exactly what you are looking for from Chanel!

I’m ready for those advance tips now-

So now you know what you want, but you can’t find it anywhere, what do you do?

The key here is to find a sales associate (they call them “fashion advisors”) you connect really well with and whose opinions you trust! This person will act as your inside man (or woman), giving you the inside scoop on what’s coming out six months before they’re released. This means you’ll be the first to know whats available before the items even hit Chanels website! Sometimes, the rare items never even make it to Chanels website because by the time they’re available, they’re already sold out!

Let me emphasize how important it is to maintain this relationship with your FA- I was told that FA’s know what is coming six months in advance, and the more sought after items sell out through pre-orders before they even hit the shelves. This means, the little inventory they do get of your dream piece will sell out so fast that Chanel wont have inventory left over to sell to anyone who didn’t know about its upcoming release! So if you don’t have that inside person helping you, you’ll be completely clueless to the fact that it was ever even available!

For example, my white classic flap bag with light gold hardware was pre-ordered a month before it arrived in store and when I went to pick it up, it was already sold out through pre-orders and there weren’t any left to sell to someone walking in to the store that day. My FA pulled out my bag for me and other shoppers asked to see the same bag because they were also interested, only problem was, it was all SOLD OUT before it was available!

See what I mean when I stress the importance of having a good FA? They can change the entire experience for you! Over time, this person will also get to know you and your preferences, and you’ll get to a place where they’ll start suggesting pieces for you that they think you’ll like, and honestly, my FA nails it every time and I haven’t regretted a single piece i’ve purchased from Chanel, this will be extremely helpful since they know whats coming, and you don’t! As much as you sit there stalking Chanel’s website, you’ll never know whats actually available!

But wait, how do I find an FA?

For me, it took a while! I went in to Chanel boutiques as well as in store boutiques, like the Chanel inside of a Neiman Marcus, and spoke to countless FA’s until I found one I just clicked with, this alone was a challenge in itself because most of them can be quite stuck up IMO! Good news is- if you’re in San Francisco, mine is Gina, and she’s amazing and stays on top of her knowledge on everything Chanel! I couldn’t recommend her enough! But if you can’t find Gina in Chanels SF location, Evan is also amazing and will go above and beyond to help you find what you want.

When you do find an FA you connect with, ask them if you can leave your contact info with them and if they can keep you updated on when your dream piece will be available or when new items come in that they’ll think you’ll like!

I am constantly texting my FA as I think of things I want and she’ll send me pictures of things that come in. This is a relationship I cherish! lol. Doing this saves me so much time from having to shop and I get pieces like a white Classic flap bag that is rare and SO incredibly hard to track down, trust me, I looked for over a year!

Being patient and knowing what you want will slowly but surely, build you a Chanel collection of your dreams and it is so worth it! Considering the price point of Chanel, is there any other way to go about it? Definitely not in my opinion!

Wishing you the best of luck on your journey in finding the perfect pieces for you!

Xoxo,

Lena