I fell in love with Chanel trainers years ago but the price tag never really showed any option to buy it. Yes I know I wear bags more expensive than these kicks but think of it this way, you’re actually walking with that amount of money on dirty pavement, rain dripping on it – a bag just dangles around your hips and doesn’t touch anything else.
Years passed by, broke my neck a couple of times cause I couldn’t stop staring but hey, still I didn’t think of buying a pair. The colours that released haven’t been what I wanted and also for some reason, they didn’t showed up for quite some time – not knowing they were working on a new innovative but well recognised trainer.
And here it was – saw them on the Chanel website and I think I saw them for the first time on Rachel Tyler’s feet. I knew Chanel would be expensive so I knew I had to wait and if I really wanted them, I had to start saving money for it. After a few months, when my savings account said: “hey, it’s time” (it was the 30th of April), I went to the Chanel store in Amsterdam. I looked around (no one offered me help, well hi I’m about to spend a lot of money here even though I don’t look like it) and couldn’t find them. So I walked up to the staff and showed him a picture. He said: “oh but honey, people camped for this pair. You’re way too late”. Okay well, I had no idea people could camp for a pair which was half the rent of my house… I decided to spend a part of the money on our new home, I wanted all this new furniture and still I was able to find the best deals for that so I didn’t spend it all.
In the meantime, cause obviously they were special, I checked Vestiaire Collective. I found them there in a size 36,5. A French girl sold them for like €1050. I swallowed a couple of time, how does resell work for high end? This was way too much so I left it for what it was.. Eventually I saw on Instagram all these bloggers wearing this new colorway and I got upset. I definitely missed out on that particular pair I wanted and I know when a season in high end finishes, you won’t be able to get it anywhere anymore.
When we got to Paris, I didn’t even realise there was a Chanel or even twenty of them. We visited one and I found an all black pair. I tried it on but then noticed the pair I wanted BUT not with the colour I was hoping for. That’s when the search started. We were send to three different stores and at the last one I was told they also didn’t have it. It was also almost closing time and they almost wanted to send us to an other location.. But when I told the staff my story, she really wanted to help me. She went to the store across the streets to see if they had it, she wasn’t sure. Especially my size. I literally did a happy dance when I saw the box.
My experience so far. The quality is amaaaaaazing. I even noticed that I have very flat feet, the footbed inside is very stable. I bought them in a size 35,5 and aren’t tight or snug. I can’t compare them to any of my other designer shoes – also not to any of my other sneakers. A week further, I have them in a box, I’m very scared to dirty them so I take my time and will only wear them when I have something special going on or when the weather is good – I don’t have money to buy a new pair as quickly. How much does a pair like this cost? €720. To be fair, I think the price is crazy too but it’s not that I would buy a pair like this every week. I even bought then five months after I actually wanted to buy them so I’m very proud of myself.
