This evening, Chanel announced that Virginie Viard would be stepping down as the fashion house’s artistic director. She has held the position for the last five years, but has worked for Chanel for three decades. Viard was best known as Karl Lagerfeld’s closest design confidant and his second-in-command, up until she took the creative reins at the house after he passed away in 2019.
In a statement, Chanel said it “confirm[ed] 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.” The Chanel team also thanked Viard “for her remarkable contribution to Chanel’s fashion, creativity, and vitality.” The statement mentioned that a new creative organization would be announced soon.
During her tenure as artistic director, Viard worked to continue Lagerfeld’s legacy while also infusing her youth-minded approach into the house’s pieces, introducing designs that spoke to a new generation of Chanel customers with a discerning eye and a penchant for playful yet pragmatic clothes. Looking back at her last three collections—shown in Manchester, in Marseilles, and in Paris by way of a theatrical, manmade boardwalk meant to evoke Deauville, France—it’s now apparent they may have represented some sort of a swan song trilogy: All of those places were locations that held special creative meaning for Viard. They inspired her and carried her through her prolific career at Chanel.
Rumors about who will replace her are already swirling, with one designer, Hedi Slimane, standing out as the top contender. It will be an exciting new dawn for Chanel, but Viard’s immense talent and vision for the future of the house will be missed. Having a woman at the helm of Chanel likely would have made the brand’s founder proud. Here’s to Viard and whatever fashion space she conquers next.
