Chanel makes a lot of shoes
Chanel makes a lot of shoes. Not all of them make sense past the first wear. The slingbacks photograph beautifully, but the elastic digs in after an hour. The espadrilles are charming until the jute starts to fray. The sneakers — well, they're sneakers with a quilted heel tab and a price that doesn't track with what you're actually getting underfoot.
But some of them hold. Not in the aspirational sense — in the mechanical one. They survive a full day without blistering. They age visibly but gracefully. They stay intact through resoling, through seasons, through the small indignities of being worn instead of stored. These are the three that do.
What separates a shoe that lasts from one that doesn't usually comes down to construction, not mystique. A leather sole that's stitched, not glued. A last that accounts for how feet actually move. A heel pitch that doesn't throw your weight forward by the third block. Chanel's archive is full of shapes that look right and feel wrong. The ones below look right and, more importantly, stay wearable. They're not subtle — nothing with an interlocking double-C is subtle — but they're honest about what they are. And they don't fall apart.
The Two-Tone Slingback (Beige and Black)
This is the one everyone thinks of, and for once, the consensus is correct. Introduced in 1957, relaunched under Karl Lagerfeld in the eighties, still in production now. The beige body extends the leg line. The black cap toe shortens the foot visually, which sounds like a problem until you're wearing them and realize it just makes the whole thing feel more compact, more resolved.
The current version sits on a block heel — five centimetres, grosgrain-wrapped — and uses a lambskin upper with a kid leather toe cap. The slingback strap is elastic, which is usually where these fail, but Chanel sets it into a leather anchor at the heel counter. That small structural choice keeps the elastic from overstretching. It also keeps the shoe on your foot when you're moving quickly, which matters more than it should have to.
Expect to pay €850. Expect them to need a resole after a year of regular wear — the leather sole is thin, deliberately so, and it will wear through at the ball of the foot. A good cobbler can replace it without compromising the shoe's line. After that, they settle in. The lambskin creases at the vamp. The grosgrain on the heel darkens slightly from contact. None of it looks damaged. It looks worn in, which is different.
The Loafer (Quilted Lambskin, Chain Detail)
Chanel's loafers don't get the same attention as the slingbacks, probably because they're harder to romanticize. A loafer is a loafer. But this one works.
The upper is quilted lambskin — the same diamond pattern the house uses on its bags — with a chain detail that runs across the vamp. The chain isn't decorative. It's woven through leather loops and sits flat against the foot, which keeps it from catching on anything or digging in when you walk. The sole is leather with a low stacked heel, just under three centimetres. The last is wider than most Chanel shoes, which makes them wearable if you're between sizes or if your feet swell slightly by end of day.
They take about two weeks to break in. The lambskin is soft from the start, but the insole needs time to mold to your arch. Wear them around the house first. Wear them to dinner, then home. Don't wear them for a full day of walking until the leather has started to give at the flex point.
At €920, they're not trying to compete with Church's or Crockett & Jones on price. They're competing on presence. The quilting catches light. The chain registers without announcing itself. They read as Chanel from across a room, which is either what you want or it isn't. But they hold their shape, they don't collapse at the heel counter, and they resole cleanly. That's more than most logo-heavy shoes manage.
The Mary Jane (Patent Leather, Grosgrain Strap)
This one's newer — introduced in 2018, refined slightly in 2021 — and it's the least obviously Chanel of the three. No quilting, no chain, no two-tone contrast. Just a black patent leather Mary Jane with a grosgrain strap and a small CC logo on the buckle.
The appeal is in the proportions. The toe is rounded but not bulbous. The strap sits just forward of the ankle, which is higher than most Mary Janes and keeps the shoe from reading juvenile. The heel is a block, four centimetres, wrapped in the same patent as the upper. The insole is lightly padded — not enough to feel spongy, just enough to absorb impact on hard floors.
Patent leather is unforgiving. It doesn't stretch, it doesn't breathe, and it shows every scuff. But it also doesn't crease the way smooth leather does, and it doesn't absorb water. These are shoes for controlled environments: offices, galleries, restaurants with good floors. They're not for cobblestones or unexpected rain. Within those limits, they perform.
The buckle is the weak point. It's small, and if you're fastening and unfastening it daily, the prong will eventually loosen. A jeweler can tighten it. Or you can leave the strap buckled and slip the shoe on and off, which most people end up doing anyway.
€795. They don't need breaking in — patent doesn't soften — but they do need to fit correctly from the start. Size up if you're between.
Keeping Them Intact
Chanel shoes don't come with dust bags that do much, and the boxes collapse if you stack them. Store them with shoe trees — cedar for the loafers, plastic for the patent Mary Janes. The slingbacks can go without, but keep them upright so the elastic doesn't stretch under their own weight.
Resole before the leather wears through to the insole. A half-sole in matching leather runs about €60 and adds another year. Polish the patent styles with a soft cloth and nothing else — no product, no water. Lambskin can take a neutral cream if it starts to look dry, but use it sparingly.
None of these shoes will last forever. But they'll last longer than you expect them to, and they'll look better doing it than most of what's out there at the same price point. That's the actual test.
