Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld, with his shock of white hair, black glasses and leather gloves, will be the center of attention in Paris next Tuesday when he debuts the luxury-goods company’s latest ready-to-wear collection during the city’s Fashion Week.
“The Chanel show by far generates the most interest,” Dana Thomas, the author of “Deluxe,” a book on the luxury industry, said in a phone interview from the French capital. “If you only go to one show a season, Chanel’s the one you have to go to.”
Lagerfeld’s billionaire patrons of 30 years, Chanel owners Alain and Gerard Wertheimer, will walk in unnoticed, according to Thomas. The brothers will sit in the fourth or fifth row and slip away afterward.
The pair keep their private lives -- and their finances -- out of the spotlight to such an extent that their combined $19.2 billion fortune is more than double previous estimates.
According to its annual report filed with Kamer van Koophandel, the Dutch chamber of commerce, Chanel International BV reported consolidated net revenue of $5.9 billion in 2011, and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization of $1.4 billion.
Dutch Documents
The report for the Zoetermeer, Netherlands-based holding company is the latest available and gives Chanel a value of $18.5 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, based on the average enterprise value-to-sales, enterprise value-to- Ebitda and price-to-earnings multiples of five publicly traded peers: L’Oreal SA, Estee Lauder Cos., Prada Spa, LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA and Kering.
“Chanel would rate at the very top of the industry,” Gilbert Harrison, chairman and founder of investment bank Financo LLC, said in a phone interview. “Given luxury companies are going for three to four times revenues you can easily get to a $20 billion valuation.”
The brothers each own half of the company, according to “The Secret of Chanel No. 5,” a history of the fragrance by Tilar Mazzeo. They also own three French vineyards, including Chateau Rauzan-Segla, and Wertheimer et Frere, one of the world’s top horse racing and breeding operations.
Laurence Delamare, a spokesman for Chanel, declined to comment on the Wertheimers’ net worth.