by A fashion revolution is underway in Paris as Virginie Viard steps down from her role as artistic director of Chanel. The news was confirmed late on Wednesday night, and Viard reportedly left the Rue Cambon HQ that evening.
The move adds fuel to the ever-revolving fire of creative music director chairs, which have come in recent years to highlight the poisoned chalice of these all-encompassing, all-powerful but highly responsible roles.
“Chanel confirms the departure of Virginie Viard after a rich collaboration of five years as artistic director of fashion collections, during which she was able to renew the codes of the house while respecting the creative heritage of Chanel, and almost 30 years within the house,” said the house in a statement. “A new creative organization will be announced in due course. Chanel would like to thank Virginie Viard for her great contribution to Chanel fashion, creativity and vibrancy.”
Viard steps down after 30 years with the house, the last five years leading to it, following the death of the multi-hyphenate fashion machine Karl Lagerfeld, for whom she previously worked as a right-hand man. His promotion was seen at the time as a rare but fair direction for the future of one of the world’s most prestigious and renowned luxury brands. Chanel is still owned by the Wertheimers, Alain Wertheimer, 75, Chairman, and his brother Gerard, 74, who heads the watch division. Her grandfather Pierre helped finance Coco Chanel when she launched the highly successful No5 perfume in 1924.
Chanel is always a very successful proposition. In recently released accounts its revenue rose 16 percent to $19.7 billion in 2023. Speaking to industry trade title The Fashion Business, Phillippe Blondiaux offered “From Virginie [Viard] Karl accepted… Chanel’s fashion business has grown by 2.2. Chanel’s ready-to-wear business has increased by 2.5%, and Chanel’s ready-to-wear business grew by 23% last year. It seemed to put a lid, at least temporarily, on concerns that Viard’s output was not affecting the creative scene and that the quality had dropped.
Her collections received a rather muted response from the fashion world, lost from Lagerfeld’s marketing spin, her work may have had a softer and more feminine touch but was often seen as lacking in taste or relevance for women Today. Of course, this did not stop Chanel from raising the prices of its star products. A classic medium-sized quilted handbag has risen 104 per cent since 2019 to around £9,000, a tweed jacket will set you back at least £6,000, while trying to appeal to the highest spending echelons of the 0.1 per cent first AKA the only cohort. left with no money to flash. Insiders have claimed that the prices of the bags were raised to offset poor fashion sales from the Viard collections.
Viard’s latest Cruise show, held at the Le Corbusier designed building Center d’art de la Cité radieuse in Marseille, did not provide the subject of great optics. Guests were shown around the 1952 social housing project (let them see the intensity!) before watching the show (in the rain) on the roof. The grit was too much for some pampered front-runners who likened it to sitting on top of a Westfield car park.
In fashion, everything is drama. Rumors or perhaps wishful thinking have long abounded around Chanel since Lagerfeld’s death, with insiders desperate for her creative direction to be stepped up.
It is not the only house without a creative head at the moment: Givenchy has yet to announce an appointment since Matthew Williams resigned at the end of 2023; there is much talk about the stability of British designer Kim Jones’s position at Dior and Fendi, while at Balenciaga Demna Gvasalia’s role is still being examined.
Among the likely contenders for Chanel’s crown is Hedi Slimane, Celine’s current creative director, who is already rumored to be leaving. Some people would make sense of their installation in Chanel. Much loved by Lagerfeld, who went on an extreme diet to be able to wear his slim Noughties suit, Slimane certainly has the marketing midas touch necessary to transform the double C acres of branded merch.
Other contenders include Pierpaolo Piccioli who left Valentino earlier this year (a role now taken by Alessandro Michele, formerly of Gucci) and John Galliano, who was recently picked up by Anna Wintour. His haute couture collection for Maison Margiela Artisanal was a viral and industry hit in January, and his design fingerprints were all over this year’s Met Gala, with work from his tenure at Givenchy, Dior and Margiela all given to high-profile properties (see Zendaya, Kendall Jenner and Kim Kardashian).
The Wertheimers are of course Jewish, which might put Galliano out of the picture because of his infamous heroism, but it could be argued that they have the form to overlook anti-Semitic prejudice. Her grandfather continued to work with Chanel after she tried to use the Vichy Aryan laws to seize control of the company during World War II.
Perhaps the question is whether they want to replace Coco Chanel or Karl Lagerfeld. Are they hoping to regain the wit and viral cut of their previous design identity, or will they be looking to restore the codes of the fashion house that its founder decided to break down the rules of stuffy clothes and who created a modern easy-to-wear wardrobe. for women of the 20th century.
Phoebe Philo, who now heads her own eponymous label, was one name that industry insiders had long talked about as a dream appointment; Sarah Burton, who left Alexander McQueen last September and Clare Waight-Keller, who designed the Duchess of Sussex’s wedding dress during her tenure at Givenchy, do not have high-profile roles. They could try to poach Nadège Vanhee-Cybulski (one of the only other women in charge of luxury houses) from Hermès, a move that would mean handbags at dawn.
Chanel is the jewel in the industry, a role seen as the pinnacle of Parisian fashion. The secretive Wertheimers have always been seen as conservative owners, unlikely to get too involved with their billionaire yacht. Recent high-profile appointments to luxury houses have met with mixed reactions – see Sabato de Sarno at Gucci, Seán McGirr at McQueen and Daniel Lee at Burberry. They will not want similar discourse here.
Anyone who steps up to the Chanel plate will be scrutinized as to where they can take this titan of shoes and chain bags. The classic creative dilemma rears its head again – do you give your customers what they’ve always wanted or do you try to present them with something exciting that they didn’t know they wanted?
On Thursday morning, the Chanel website was down for maintenance. When it clicks back up, all eyes will be on the brand for its much-awaited new era.
