Gerard, 61, is based in Geneva and serves as chairman of the company’s watch division. Alain, 64, lives in New York and is chairman of Chanel, and is credited with resurrecting the brand when he took over operational control from his father in 1974.
Exclusive Distribution
He reduced the number of outlets stocking Chanel’s perfume to combat the overexposure that had diluted Coco Chanel’s vision of No. 5 as the world’s most-exclusive perfume, according to London-based Anastasia Kourovskaia, vice president EMEA at consultancy Millward Brown Optimor.
Since then, the Wertheimers have protected the exclusivity of the brand, building the fashion division and expanding into watches and jewelry, Kourovskaia said. Millward Brown Optimor calculated Chanel’s brand value alone was worth $7.1 billion in May 2013.
The label’s fashion house, which introduced the “little black dress” to the world, was revived under the direction of Lagerfeld, who the Wertheimers appointed in 1983.
Chanel was named the most-wanted luxury brand in 2012 by Chinese women, according to Boston-based consultancy Bain & Co., even as the owners hide away.
“We’re a very discreet family, we never talk,” Gerard was quoted as saying in an article in the New York Times in February 2002. “It’s about Coco Chanel. It’s about Karl. It’s about everyone who works and creates at Chanel. It’s not about the Wertheimers.”