The actress is a mom to daughter Elsie Otter, 9, and son Charlie Wolf, 7

• Chanel announced Matthieu Blazy is taking over as the house's artistic director.
• Blazy, coming from Bottega Veneta, is stepping into a coveted role once held by Karl Lagerfeld.
• He helped Bottega Veneta defy the luxury slump, but skeptics question if he can fill Lagerfeld's boots.

After months and months of rumors, Chanel has finally named its new artistic director.

Late Thursday evening, the century-old French Maison announced that 40-year-old Parisian designer Matthieu Blazy is getting one of the most coveted roles in fashion.

Blazy, who spent the last three years steering the ship at Bottega Veneta, is replacing Virginie Viard, a Chanel stalwart who stunned the industry by stepping down from the role in June after five years.

Viard was a longtime collaborator and protégé of Karl Lagerfeld, who became synonymous with Chanel after holding the title of creative director for over 30 years until his death in 2019.

Following Blazy's appointment, Alain Wertheimer, Global Executive Chairman, and Leena Nair, Global CEO of Chanel, released a joint statement calling him "one of the most gifted designers of his generation."

While they are "confident" he can "write a new page" in Chanel's history, industry insiders will withhold judgment until his first collection debuts in September 2025.

"He's created a name for himself, and it's true that Bottega has become one of the biggest brands lately, and the turnaround has been fantastic," Blanca Zugaza Escribano, a fashion and luxury consultant at Metyis, told Business Insider. "But is he at the level of a Karl Lagerfeld?"

The biggest shoes in fashion to fill

What Blazy does have going in his favor is that he helped Bottega Veneta, where British Louise Trotter will be taking up the mantle, remain resilient amid an industry-wide slump.

Out of the top brands owned by Kering, including Gucci and Saint Laurent, Bottega Veneta was the only one to deliver positive earnings in its most recent quarter. Revenue was at €397 million ($416 million), up 4% year-on-year.

"My impression is that he will be a committed brand steward who respects the history and heritage of Chanel while innovating for the future," Milton Pedraza, CEO of the Luxury Institute, told BI.

Still, Bottega Veneta's recent successes pale compared to the stable growth of fashion heavyweights like Hermès and Chanel, which, unlike many of their luxury peers, have avoided chopping and changing leadership and chasing trends to bolster sales and brand growth.

Escribano said that Chanel's strategy is similar to that of Hermès, which Martin Roll, global business strategist and senior advisor at consulting giant McKinsey, previously told BI is a brand that has found success by playing the long game with "stability in the ownership" and "leadership stability."

Escribano said it's surprising Chanel is looking for a new designer to inject new energy and vision.

"People are not tired or bored of the classic Chanel," Escribano said. "If something's not broken, why fix it?"

While Blazy will technically be stepping into Viard's shoes, her links to Lagerfeld leave little doubt that it's actually the legacy of the late German designer that Chanel's newcomer has to live up to.

"He's young, and he's modern for a role that's so iconic and classic," Escribano said.

One of the biggest challenges will be whether Blazy can align himself with Chanel's CEO and team, who have been there since Lagerfeld's days.

To follow in Lagerfeld's footsteps, Pedraza said Blazy will have to be the kind of creative director who can "seamlessly optimize, not compromise, the brand past and present with the brand future."

"The best creative directors can leave the brand better than they found it through innovation while maintaining the DNA and identity of the brand," he said.

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• Koyaana Redstar, a vintage luxury handbag expert, swears by resale handbags.
• She said she bought a Chanel Boy bag for $2,050 in 2015 and sold it for $2,000 in 2024.
• Taking good care of a bag is essential in making sure it retains its value, she said.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Koyaana Redstar, the head of luxury buying at Luxe Du Jour, an online luxury boutique for vintage designer handbags. It has been edited for length and clarity.

I've worked for Rebag, The RealReal, and other vintage consignment stores, and I have 20 years of experience in the resale industry.

I swear by resale, just because your return on investment is always going to be higher if you buy resale and sell resale, versus buying at retail price and then selling it off.

Here's a fun bit of girl math. In 2015, I bought a new medium, studded Chanel Boy bag.

In the years I owned it, I wore it at least six times a month — and that's a conservative estimate. I paid $2,050 for it in 2015 at Rebag, a luxury resale company.

I loved that bag and took good care of it, but I sold it this year for $2,000 to supplement the funds I needed for my wedding.

All in, you could say I basically paid $50 to own it for eight years.

To me, buying this bag was a hundred percent worth it — and a great deal.

How to take care of luxury bags

Preserving a bag's condition and caring for it is what helps it retain its value.

My biggest tip is to always store the handbag in climate-controlled environments that are not too cold and have moderate humidity.

Always remember that most pieces are made of leather, which is really just skin. Heat and humidity make it wither. You also don't want the bag to be too wet because mold could grow.

Just make sure you clean the piece with a leather moisturizer or just a fabric cleaner.

But don't buy designer handbags just to resell them

My advice, however, is not to buy bags just to sell them. I give that same advice to consigners who come to me after shopping at Hermès or Chanel and want to sell their bags.

When we quote them prices below retail, they say that they want to make what they paid for it.

The truth is, reselling bags also takes into consideration the demand for an item. I can't guarantee that I'll be able to help customers make a profit.

So, I always tell people, "Buy something you like, for you. Don't do it to resell it."

At the end of the day, investing in a bag you don't like is a gamble. You want to build up a collection because you like the pieces because they speak to you, and because they complement your personal style.