Chanel, Virginie Viard leaves creative direction: she was Lagerfeld's heir

Late yesterday evening, Wednesday 5 June, the news bounced across the main digital publications dedicated to the fashion industry: Virginie Viard, Chanel's creative director, a role she had taken on in 2019 upon the death of her mentor, Karl Lagerfeld, is leaving the helm of the maison, where she had worked for 30 years. "Chanel confirms the exit of Virginie Viard after a rich five-year collaboration as artistic director of fashion collections, during which she was able to renew the codes of the maison while respecting Chanel's creative heritage, and almost 30 years," Chanel wrote in a note. A new creative organisation will be announced in due course. Chanel would like to thank Virginie Viard for her important contribution to Chanel's fashion, creativity and vitality'.

The possibility of a decisive change of direction from the creative strand that began with Lagerfeld in 1982 had in fact been circulating in circles for some time, but the solid accounts of Chanel seemed to want to leave it at the level of rumours. Rumours that in these hours are chasing each other on the name of the person who will succeed Viard, and that also point to Pierpaolo Piccioli, who left Valentino last March (also after 25 years in the same maison), among those who instead hope to see a new talent at the helm of one of the most important brands in the fashion industry. In an interview last month, Chanel's ceo Leena Nair had, however, denied that there would be a change at the creative helm, pointing out that Viard had led strong growth in ready-to-wear sales, a category that had grown two-and-a-half times since 2018, and that Viard offered a style that was highly appreciated by women.

Virginie Viard con Karl Lagerfeld

Born in Lyon 62 years ago into a family of textile entrepreneurs, Viard had also worked as a costume designer before meeting Lagerfeld in Monaco: he offered her an internship in the rue Cambon atelier and, won over by the designer's talent, wanted to take her with him during the years of Chloé's creative direction, before returning together to the fashion house of the double C. They had been at the helm of Chanel together since 1997, although it was Lagerfeld who appeared alone at the end of the shows. As his health deteriorated, from 2017, Viard had begun to accompany him to greet guests, a gesture that underlined the intensity of their bond and at the same time outlined the future, marked by stylistic continuity.

The autumn/winter 2024/25 haute couture collection, the designer's latest, will be presented as planned on 25 June at the Opéra Garnier in Paris.