Freelance Announcer Aika Kanda Opens Up About Accepting a Goodbye This Spring

My first CHANEL

Spring is a season of encounters and farewells. In particular, the latter often arrives suddenly, especially with those you still want to stay with. This spring, I parted ways with my account manager.

CHANEL is a dream brand for women around the world. The brand’s founder, Coco Chanel, proposed clothing that prioritized ease of movement, such as suits made from sportswear fabrics, during a harsh era when women wore corsets. She supported women’s entry into society and brought about a revolution in the fashion world.

When I was in high school, I learned about its origins through Chanel’s biography, and I decided, “When I have a prospect of living on my own earnings, I will buy my first CHANEL by myself.” Then, in my mid-30s, that moment finally arrived. With the feeling of (I’ve finally made it), I went to CHANEL in Ginza. At that time, the salesperson who assisted me was the same account manager who had supported my shopping for nearly 10 years until this spring.

No matter how much I admire a brand, if the service is sloppy or the staff are condescending, I lose the desire to buy. I tend to place importance on the idea that the price I pay and the service I receive should be proportional, and if they are not, I start thinking things like, “This brand is only in name!” or “Just because you work for a great brand doesn’t mean you yourself are great!” and I become petty enough to think, “I’ll never buy here again!”

However, that account manager provided me, who was a little nervous, with pleasant service and suggested a pink bag—my personal life theme color. My first CHANEL, a pink bag that became a lifelong memory. With the added positive experience of the purchase, it still reigns in my closet as an unshakable commemorative bag.

For my standard of living, there was no need at all to wear expensive CHANEL items. However, thanks to that account manager, CHANEL became a place where I could buy rewards for myself, a place to learn about first-class products and service, and it became a brand I wanted to continue dealing with for the rest of my life.

As a result, I made many purchases over the past 10 years. Even when I didn’t desperately want something, if I thought “I kind of want it” at a moderately strong level, I would buy it. That’s because I thought that maybe store staff’s evaluations are determined by sales performance!? Even though I had never heard such a fact, I felt that if it were true, I should repay the account manager who had brought color to my life.

I realized that this way of thinking overlapped with women who become addicted to host clubs, but I also thought it was a win-win situation since I still ended up with items that I could use for a lifetime.

The only irreplaceable existence

However, this April, that sales associate was suddenly transferred. And not just anywhere, but to a duty-free shop inside an international airport.

I couldn’t help but say, “Wait—what!?” (I can’t go there at all!!). A shop inside an airport can only be visited when traveling overseas. There’s no guarantee the associate would even be there on the day of departure, and above all, I don’t want to buy luxury goods before a trip and have to carry them around all the time!

At that moment, my relationship with CHANEL was finally coming to an end. Perhaps it was a message from God telling me to stop spending money on CHANEL. How much had I even spent? I even wondered if this was a chance to cheat and find another brand to energize myself with, and I wandered around Ginza looking for something else besides CHANEL. But I couldn’t get into it.

For me, there is no brand that can replace CHANEL. It was the brand I first approached as a symbol of becoming independent, a medal marking the moment I finally became a full-fledged adult. Through both happy and sad times, CHANEL had been there with me. And always, that sales associate was there too, connecting me with beautiful, timeless pieces.

It’s a good opportunity. While expressing gratitude to that associate, I decided to look at my entire relationship with CHANEL from a distance. If I think of it as a ridiculously extravagant and foolish period of time, then I can let it go. But if I still feel it was a necessary color in my life despite its luxury, then I can step back in when the associate returns.

“Farewells make people grow.” This spring, while repeating those words to myself, I resolved to move forward. Only when I casually go to Hawaii during summer vacation or New Year holidays will I drop by the airport duty-free shop and have a little fun with that sales associate.

Aika Kanda / Born in 1980 in Kanagawa Prefecture. After graduating from the Faculty of Science, Department of Mathematics at Gakushuin University, she joined NHK in 2003 as an announcer. She left NHK in 2012 and became a freelance announcer. Since then, she has been active mainly in variety programs, and is currently a regular main MC on the daytime program “Poka Poka” (Fuji TV network).