Continue the waltz of the creative directors of luxury brands. After Alessandro Michele and Pierpaolo Piccioli, now it's the turn of Virginie Viard who will surprise Chanel after 30 years spent at the house, including the last five as creative director.
The announcement comes directly from Chanel which however made no mention of who will be Viard's successor at the helm of the fashion house.
Chanel's advert on Virginie Viard
“Chanel confirms the departure of Virginie Viard after a rich collaboration lasting five years as artistic director of the fashion collections, during which she was able to renew the codes of the maison while respecting the creative heritage of Chanel, and almost 30 years within the maison”, said the fashion house. “A new creative organization will be announced in due course. Chanel would like to thank Virginie Viard for her extraordinary contribution to the fashion, creativity and vitality of Chanel."
Who is Virginie Viard
Virginie Viard is 62 years old and in 2019, after the death of the legendary Karl Lagerfeld who had called her his “right hand and left hand”, was appointed creative director of Chanel. During his five years of creating Chanel collections, land home sales have reached new heights, with a record of almost $20 billion in 2023.
Last May 21st Chanel announced the 2023 results, closed with sales growing by 14,6% to 19,7 billion dollars and profits slowing down slightly (+3% versus +14,2% in 2022), to 4,7 billion dollars.
Just a month ago, Chanel CEO Leena Nair denied rumors of a designer change, saying that Viard had generated strong growth in ready-to-wear fashion sales, which had increased two and a half times since 2018. It is no coincidence that the announcement took the sector by surprise, with persistent rumors that speak of an argument between Viard and Bruno Pavlovsky, president of Chanel fashion, at the end of which the creative would have decided to leave.
Who will be Viard's successor at Chanel?
As mentioned, Chanel has not yet spoken about a successor, but there are many who do name of Pierpaolo Piccioli, than last March he left Valentino after 25 years of residence. His place was taken by Alessandro Michele, creative director of Gucci for seven years until 2022. He is also among the eligible candidates Hedi Slimane, today in Celine, but which very insistent rumors already give outside the brand.
