vintage Chanel farfetch
Photograph courtesy of Farfetch

A Treasure Trove of Pre-Owned Chanel Pieces Just Landed on Farfetch

Attention fashion lovers: Farfetch just dropped an amazing collection of archival Chanel pieces on site in partnership with Rewind Vintage Affairs. The 49-piece collection offers everything from clothing to handbags and accessories from the brand’s collections from the ’80s and ’90s.

The pieces were given to Rewind following the passing of the formerly private collection’s owner, Catherine McNulty, whom the site describes as a “glamorous socialite who collected rare Chanel pieces.” Many of the pieces were worn by the house’s muses on the runway including Inès de la Fressange, Yasmin Le Bon and Claudia Schiffer.

vintage Chanel farfetch
Photograph courtesy of Farfetch

“When we first saw this particular collection it felt as though we had opened up an Aladdin’s cave of the most fabulous pieces, with the most glamorous stories behind them,” Claudia Ricco, the founder of Rewind, said of the pieces. Ricco met McNulty nine years ago when she was looking to add pieces to her collection. In an interview with British Vogue, Ricco recalls their first meeting, saying, ““I remember walking into her closet in Cannes [where McNulty retired after living in London] and being blown away – she only wore Chanel! Catherine stored every single item in a neat hotel laundry bag from her travels. As she pulled them out – all in mint condition – the stories got more remarkable.”

As for her own personal favourite pieces from the collection, Ricco notes the Scuba sequin jacket and the green tweed bag. “The bag is incredibly rare and the two were paired with co-ordinates bought by two fashion museums as part of their permanent collection,” she explains to Farfetch. She adds that the Scuba jacket is a runway piece worn by Schiffer and “was listed as part of the 100 best Karl Lagerfeld looks of all time.”

vintage Chanel farfetch
Photograph courtesy of Farfetch

Demand for pre-owned Chanel pieces continues to be strong. Last month, Lyst revealed in its Q1 Index report that searches for a Chanel classic double flap bag had risen by 75 per cent this year. Similarly in its 2020 Conscious Fashion Report, the site reported a 74 per cent increase in searches for vintage Chanel jackets after Taylor Swift wore one on the cover of a magazine.

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