CRUISING WITH CHANEL: Bonhams Cornette de Saint Cyr’s sale of Chanel clothing and accessories from a single owner netted twice the pre-sale estimate in a Paris auction that lasted eight hours.
The 367-lot sale, “Chanel: A Private Collection,” made a total of 609,574 euros, with 100 percent sold by lot and by value. The top-selling item at the Feb. 19 event was a jacket by Karl Lagerfeld from the Cruise 2005 collection.
The long black wool jacket with a gold CC patch was identical to the one worn by actress Anne Hathaway in the role of Andrea Sachs in the film “The Devil Wears Prada.” It sold for 6,400 euros, or eight times the pre-sale estimate of between 800 and 1,000 euros.
A long black tweed coat, adorned with a gold CC patch and also from the Cruise 2005 collection, sold for 3,840 euros, double the pre-sale estimate of 1,500 to 2,000 euros.
As reported, the sale featured a Chanel wardrobe curated by a single owner between 1995 and 2023. The lots spanned every season between those years and showcased designs by creative directors Lagerfeld and Virginie Viard.
Hubert Felbacq, director of the fashion and accessories department at Bonhams Cornette de Saint Cyr in Paris, described the collection as “the ultimate Parisian wardrobe, offering an intimate glimpse into one woman’s meticulously organized dressing room.”
The top-selling lot from the Chanel Cruise 2005 collection.
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He added: “A comprehensive, single-owner collection of this caliber is a rarity at auction. It was therefore no surprise that the exhibition attracted extraordinary interest. More than 1,000 visitors came to Avenue Hoche over three days to attend the dedicated preview ahead of the sale,” while the room was packed with bidders for the auction.
“We are honored to have helped this remarkable wardrobe begin its next chapter, with the hope that each piece will be worn, cherished, and reinterpreted by a new generation of Chanel aficionados,” he said.
The sale included 130 jackets, dresses and coats; 80 pieces of costume jewelry, and 70 cardigans, sweaters and cashmere coats. There was also a selection of Première Mini watches, Ultra rings, handbags, ballet flats and sandals.
A choker, bracelet and earrings made from imitation white pearls from the fall 1996 ready to wear collection carried an estimate of 1,000 to 1,200 euros. There was also a fall 2010 “CC” brooch made from champagne-colored metal and red and black glass paste with an estimate of 400 to 600 euros.
