Chanel is going green. The French luxury brand has announced the launch of a new sustainable platform, Nevold, which is dedicated to developing circular materials. The name “Nevold” combines the words “never” and “old”, which sums up Chanel’s intention to create new materials by recycling used and waste textiles from its manufacturing processes.
“We started by asking ourselves what happens to the materials that don’t make it into a final product, or those that reach the end of their first life,” said Bruno Pavlovsky, president of fashion at Chanel, in an interview with Vogue Business. “At Chanel, we didn’t destroy unsold products. But we also didn’t yet have a real system to understand their full potential. Nevold is that system.”
Through Nevold, Chanel will focus on recycling and renewing five natural materials: cotton, wool, silk, cashmere and leather. These are the materials that are most used in Chanel’s designs, which includes its ready-to-wear collections, haute couture, and most importantly, its leather goods. According to Pavlovsky, these materials are also becoming difficult to source in high quality, due to factors like climate change and limited traceability.
Nevold is a major undertaking: Chanel has reportedly invested between 50 million and 80 million euros (between 74 million and 102 million Singapore dollars) into the platform, which is helmed by Sophie Brocard, the former CEO of the French luxury brand Patou. Nevold isn’t a private initiative, either; the circular platform will partner with other brands and companies in the wider fashion industry—beyond the luxury sector—to collect end-of-life materials, unsold merchandise and material offcuts that can be used to develop recycled materials.
Nevold’s Impact On The Craft Of Chanel Bags
It begs the question: what does Nevold mean for the Chanel girl?
For one, she can expect her tweeds to be more eco-friendly than ever. Chanel has created a sustainable version of its signature fabric that is woven with both virgin and recycled fibres, and the French fashion house has already started using the material across its collections.
In the accessories department, Chanel will also start producing structural parts of its beloved bags and shoes out of recycled materials derived from waste leather—replacing parts that were previously made from plastic. According to WWD, about 30 per cent of Chanel handbags and 50 per cent of the brand’s shoes already feature recycled components. That includes the brand’s slingback pumps, whose heels are now crafted from recycled materials.
That bit of news will delight eco-minded shoppers who are vehemently against the use of plastic in fashion production. Pavlovsky told Vogue Business, “At the end of the day, we’re quite happy to say that in a couple of years, we’ll be able to have no plastic at all in our shoes and in our bags. That was the ultimate objective.”
It sure helps that Chanel will soon be led by a fashion designer who knows how to make sustainability chic. Matthieu Blazy was appointed as the maison’s artistic director in December 2024, and he will oversee Chanel’s haute couture, ready-to-wear and accessories collections. He will present his first Chanel collection in October.
Previously, Blazy spent three years as the creative director of Bottega Veneta. During his tenure, the Italian luxury brand introduced the Certificate of Craft, a lifetime warranty that offers customers unlimited repair services for their Bottega Veneta bags. In 2023, Bottega Veneta also introduced the Reserve Leather Series, a line of leather bags and accessories that are crafted in the brand’s atelier in Italy using high-quality surplus materials.
At Bottega Veneta, Blazy also focused on creating products that are timeless—both in terms of design and durability. Upon Blazy’s appointment at Chanel, Pavlovsky said in a statement, “[Blazy’s] audacious personality, his innovative and powerful approach to creation, as well as his dedication to craftsmanship and beautiful materials, will take Chanel in exciting new directions.”
Hopefully, Nevold will be steered in the same direction.
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