Do we like them?

Do we like Chanel?

Luxury fashion, handbags, perfume and beauty house; founded in France, now run via Chanel Limited in London

Our score: 6 out of 10. Mixed-to-decent. The climate plan is credible and there are no big fines, but the 2026 Italian labour probe and thin supply-chain transparency hold it back.

Chanel is one of the world's biggest luxury houses and is still fully private. The Wertheimer brothers, Alain and Gérard, own all of it. Their family backed Coco Chanel's perfume business a century ago. Forbes and WWD both describe the brothers as the sole owners, and the CEO says it will stay private and independent.

In 2021 Chanel hired Leena Nair, a former Unilever HR chief, as its first female CEO. Alain Wertheimer moved to global executive chairman. She took over in January 2022. The company says it has more than doubled its revenue and headcount in the last decade.

The big recent drama is in Italy. Reuters reported that Italian police visited nine luxury brands in July 2026, Chanel among them, as part of a probe into alleged worker exploitation at subcontractors. None of the nine is under investigation, according to a judicial document Reuters saw. Chanel says it cut ties with the subcontractor after a May alert.

On climate, Chanel has published its first climate transition plan, aiming for net zero by 2040. Ethos says the plan doesn't lean on carbon offsets. Chanel reports direct emissions down 22% since 2021, and most of its footprint comes from purchased materials. Fashion-rating site Good On You, though, scores it "Not Good Enough" on planet and people, citing little evidence of living wages in its supply chain.

It also sues a lot to protect its brand. A New York jury found reseller WGACA liable for trademark infringement and awarded Chanel $4m. Chanel has also pursued fake-website operators. That's legitimate, but it doesn't make Chanel any warmer. We'd give it a cautious 6: solid on climate, but we want more labour transparency.