Designer sales in January
 

Anyone have any experience with the sales in January? My daughter and I are going to Paris 8-17 January 2009. We love designer stuff and would love to hear any experiences with these sales.

Do the top designers (Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Hermes) have sales?

Please tell me the good, the bad, and the ugly!

Nice! Mrs. DHG and I will be there as well, we'll probably see you at one of the stores. ^

Not sure about CHANEL, but the 2 stores you mentioned do not have items on sale. EVER.

Hermes does have sales though it is not held at its store;
For Winter 2008 it was at Palais des Congres (Porte Maillot) Hall Neuilly 9th -12th January 2008. Same location for the Summer 2008 (25-28 June 2008)

In 2007 it was held at salle Gaveau 45 rue de la Boétie from the 15th to the 19 th 2007 ( Spring-Summer 2006 collection sale)

Any idea on how I could find out the location (for Hermes) for 2009??

I believe that from now on it's going to be at Palais des Congres (Porte Maillot) Hall. Please be advised that the bags are not on sale.

If you do some searches ( "soldes Hermes") in Oct/Nov time you should get the dates and location on some fora on-line

you might also try it backwards. go to Palais des Congres (Porte Maillot) Hall and look for events. i get invited to all of them, but since i do not read french, i do not go.

Palais des Congres (Porte Maillot) Hall. is a surprisingly small place when compared to the trade show places in germany, italy and GB.

they charged us for tickets, but we went anyway as an excuse to take a business trip to Paris. when i stopped going, they mailed us comp tickets.

was not for the chanell hermes etc sales. we bought those bootleg in italy anyhow.

I did try to go to an Hermes sale at the rue de la Boetie location, but the queue was enormous, and I was too pressed for time to stay.

Chanel does (or at least did--I haven't been in a couple of years since the substantial rise of the euro/fall of the dollar) have sales at its boutiques.

Designer Sales in the U.S.
 

As much as I enjoy shopping in Paris, I've always found better deals in the U.S., especially with the euro/dollar exchange rate being so unfavorable for Americans. Chanel definitely has sales in its U.S. boutiques, usually twice a year. You can sign up at their web site for e-mails that announce sales. I've been to the sales in NYC and Boston boutiques ... mostly shoes and clothing and costume jewelry. Don't remember seeing handbags on sale. Hermes does have sales in NYC but these are not at their boutique ... normally held offsite. Actually there is a sale going on right now (and also usually in March) - scarves, ties, clothing, canvas bags, china/crystal, belts, shoes. Racked.com is a good web site that keeps track of all the big sales in NYC. As far as I know, LV does not hold sales ... I have never seen LV sold at a discount at a reputable, official retailer.

a couple of jan ago, we were staying on george v st. there is/was an LV store on the corner. this was big sale time.

we were frequently approached by people who looked oriental to go into the store and make purchases for them. they claimed they were limited as to what or how much they could buy.

i have seen LV at excellent prices on bridges in venice, and at open markets in bologna.....................They also have hermes and chanel.

i understand it is a good idea not to take the stuff back into france.

I saw a report on TV a while back about that. French customs keeps a close eye on people coming in from Italy and confiscates any counterfeit items they find; they may also charge a fine. It doesn't matter whether the items are for resale or for personal use.