robbery in Paris on the Champs-Elysées

During the night from Saturday to Sunday, in Rome, a gang of thieves entered the Bulgari shop on Via Condotti through a hole in the ground and stole jewelry worth around 500,000 euros. Barely twenty-four hours later, in Paris, in the middle of Avenue Montaigne, another gang of four thieves entered the Chanel shop in a much less discreet manner (by breaking the window with a car that was driving at full speed and then setting it on fire) then by emptying the windows and displays, fleeing with a loot estimated between six and ten million dollars. Still on Avenue Montaigne, another gang of thieves followed the same procedure on May 19, this time robbing the Harry Winston jewelry store, causing damage estimated at several million euros. In the final days of May, it took two masked men just 43 seconds to attack a hotel boutique in Miami, steal $1.8 million from Hermès bags before fleeing; a few weeks earlier, a Bottega Veneta store in Bellevue, United States, was robbed by a gang of four minors, while last February, the Gucci store in New York was robbed by armed robbers for $50,000 worth of merchandise. In March, a gang of three California thieves were arrested after stealing $300,000 worth of merchandise from various stores on the East Coast during a series of robberies. And that’s without mentioning the cases of pickpocketing from various Richard Mille watches in Milan, one of which even involved F1 driver Carlos Sainz. In short, does the fashion world have a problem with robbers?

However, if the image of a masked robber smashing the windows of a jewelry store is almost expected and banal, justifying the many and various security measures seen in stores dealing in jewelry or watches, it may be new to hear of thieves stealing handbags, shoes and clothing from a Chanel or Gucci store. Indeed, while jewelry can be melted down and gemstones removed from their settings, stolen clothing and bags don’t just cause damage. voluminous booty (especially if they are delivered with their original boxes), but if we imagine the fencing work, they could be seriously devalued if they were sold under the counter. However, these thefts could be part of international networks: when the Richard Mille thieves in Milan were arrested, the authorities traced the stolen watch to China – the loot was almost gone. globetrotting. Sometimes the solution is simpler. When Prada employees discover thefts in their workshop, they realize that a cleaning lady is stealing them to have them resold on large flea market platforms by certain relatives. Total value of the flights: 300,000 euros. Nevertheless, resell on Vinted It seems to be a very slow process to get rid of large quantities of stolen goods. Especially considering that the recent thefts in Rome and Paris appear to be well-planned operations: in the Chanel theft case, for example, the thieves had two cars, one used as a battering ram and set on fire; the other was a getaway vehicle.

Regardless, this large number of organized thefts at different levels of preparation shows that criminals have realized that behind every shop or window in luxury neighborhoods like Montenapoleone lies a warehouse full of extremely expensive products, highly sought after and therefore easily “eliminated” by more or less traceable channels. But above all, fashion brands are perfect victims because, quite simply, they better prepared for shoplifters than thieves, armed or not. Many of Montenapoleone’s warehouses, while relatively secure, have virtually only one or two doors separating them from the outside world, and inside are rooms full of potential loot: a single bag can be resold, even at a reduced price, for several thousand euros. . In any case, the issue of security had already become a hot one last year when, before the Balmain show, 50 pieces were stolen just before the show with a sort of ambush in Paris, forcing the brand’s team to rebuild everything before the show itself. The pieces have not yet been recovered and details of a theft are unclear, the motive of which could be sabotage or the sale of these unique pieces to a private collector.

Also last year, a study by a communications specialist published in Forbes did not paint an ambiguous picture of the issue. Looking at executives at luxury stores with $3.1 billion in sales across four continents (Australia not included), 62% of executives said they expect to an increase in crime, but 31% anticipate a “dramatic increase” in thefts. And although 24% rate security as excellent, only 62% as good and the rest average, it is estimated that security spending would increase between 28% and 40%, an accurate reflection of the measures adopted by brands in a globalized world. where money is precious. rare and thieves are not.