Chanel ties
We all know the famous ties from fashion houses Hermès and Salvatore Ferragamo often made out of lovely printed twill silk with fun designs. And despite they’re fun, they’re still tasteful and well accepted in the classic men’s wardrobe.
Even though Hermès and Salvatore Ferragamo are the most famous fashion houses that are selling these type of ties. They are most certainly not the only ones around who do this. Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Bulgari, Chopard, Frey Wille, Leonard Paris, Lanvin and Loewe are also amongst the fashion houses who do this. And then there are famous fashion houses who used to do this but unfortunately stopped with it, like Chanel. The Parisian fashion house, started by the elegant and powerful lady Coco Chanel, used to offer ties like Hermès and Salvatore Ferragamo till a couple of years ago. And although Chanel would be the last name in my head to pop up when buying a tie, I got attracted to some of them lately at eBay. And by the way I couldn’t resist the attraction so I even bought some of them.
Even though the Chanel ties look very different in terms of style from the Hermès and Salvatore Ferragamo ones, I think they have the same kind of philosophy. It’s a printed twill silk tie with a tasteful yet fun design. The ties are well made, but not completely sartorial like some of the smaller tie brands and makers from Italy, England or elsewhere do. Nevertheless they make a fine knot, they match most classic outfits and are not a huge show off. They’re not exactly quiet either though.. Of course one can see on the designs very clearly that the tie is coming from Chanel, a lot of the ties have the famous Chanel chain in the design as you can see on the photo.
The green butterflies are connected by the famous Chanel chain and we see the two C’s touching each other’s back. I’ve seen examples on eBay where the designs really had written very small ‘’Chanel’’ on them as a kind of bead on the chains. I’m not a huge fan of branding even not when it’s small so that would never be my choice. However it doesn’t look bad when people wear it. It still doesn’t feel like a show off to me. Perhaps because Chanel is a fashion house with a history that is very respectable and very important for the role of Paris in the fashion industry.
One thing that is completely similar to all the other fashion houses that offer ties is crest on the small end of the tie. The Chanel one is very similar to how Hermès does it. A small square with the logo, the name and the city they’re from: Paris. Then there is on the back end of the tie of course the label that can also function as the tie loop. But then there is the real fun surprise, a little Chanel chain that can either way function as a tie loop! This is a small detail that I love since it is different from what I’ve seen so far. I think it’s one of those inside details that people like. Nobody sees it when you wear it, but you know it’s there and you find it interesting.
Searching a bit on the internet brought me not further than vintage dealers offering them.. However a coincidence was a visit to an old Royal Palace in Holland where I saw a portrait of HRH Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands. The Prince who was known as a very well dressed man who had as best friends Gianni Agnelli, HRH the Duke of Edinburgh and the Kennedy’s, has been seen mainly in Savile Row suits and an occasional summer suit made by A. Caraceni in Milan. We could say he appreciated the sartorial things in life. Nevertheless on the portrait I noticed in the old Royal Palace, he was wearing a tie with stripes which were formed by the famous Chanel chains with the C’s that are touching each other’s back on it. I couldn’t find more photos of him like that but that he owned at least one Chanel tie is for sure.
It’s completely unclear to me why Chanel stopped offering them.. Perhaps it’s the lack of interest for ties of their customer base? Perhaps some designer decided it doesn’t fit to the brand anymore? It’s a shame really as I think they are among the most interesting ties from fashion houses. For me Hermès stays always number one in this area, but that’s mainly because they make it in house, became a legend and are simply the most tasteful of all. But Chanel would definitely be my number two. Perhaps it’s the charm of Chanel’s history, the feeling to wear a little piece of Coco Chanel’s life. The elegance of Paris. It just catches me and I can’t do otherwise then confessing that I will most probably look for some more vintage examples of them on eBay.
To make a short summary; it’s not the most well-made tie in the world, they are designed tastefully despite the fun designs though, they scream a bit of branding but that’s what fashion houses do. And I think it is worth it to hunt for a vintage one and wear it from time to time. It’s a tie with a romantic brand story and even though it’s a brand, it’s still the legend of Coco Chanel. The powerful lady who was probably one of the most important persons in Paris with her haute couture history.