A fashion revolution has erupted in Paris as Virginie Viard exits her role as artistic director of Chanel. The news was confirmed late Wednesday night, with Viard having reportedly left the storied Rue Cambon HQ that afternoon.
The move adds fuel to the ever-revolving fire of creative director musical chairs, which in recent years has come to underscore the poisoned chalice that these all-encompassing, all-powerful yet full-liability roles have become.
“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,” the house said in a statement. “A new creative organisation will be announced in due course. Chanel would like to thank Virginie Viard for her remarkable contribution to Chanel’s fashion, creativity and vitality.”
Viard steps down after 30 years with the house, the past five years heading it up, after the death of multi hyphenate fashion machine Karl Lagerfeld, whom she had previously worked in tandem as his right hand. Her ascension then was seen as an underwhelming yet level-headed steer on the future of one of the world’s leading and most renowned luxury brands. Chanel is still owned by the Wertheimers, Alain Wertheimer, 75, Chairman, and his brother Gerard, 74, who heads up the watch division. Their grandfather Pierre helped to fund Coco Chanel when she launched the phenomenally successful No5 perfume in 1924.
Chanel remains a hugely successful proposition. In recently released accounts its revenue rose 16 per cent to $19.7 billion in 2023. Speaking to industry trade title the Business of Fashion, Phillippe Blondiaux offered that “Since Virginie [Viard] took over from Karl…the Chanel fashion business has been multiplied by 2.2. The Chanel ready-to-wear business has been multiplied by 2.5, and the ready-to-wear business last year of Chanel grew by 23%.” Which seemed to put a lid, at least temporarily, over concerns that Viard’s output wasn’t hitting the creative spot and quality had fallen.
Her collections have been met with a rather muted response from the fashion world, lost from the marketing spin of Lagerfeld, her work might have had a softer, more feminine touch but was often seen as lacking in taste or relevance to modern women. This of course, didn’t put Chanel off hiking up prices of its star products. A classic medium size quilted handbag has shot up 104 per cent since 2019 to around £9,000, a tweed jacket will set you back at least £6,000, as it sought to appeal to the highest spending echelons of the 0.1 per cent AKA the only cohort left with any cash to flash. Insiders have reportedly claimed that bag prices were elevated in order to off-set the poor fashion sales from Viard’s collections.
Viard’s most recent Cruise show, held at the Le Corbusier designed Centre d'art de la Cité radieuse building in Marseille didn’t give great optics. Guests were shown around the 1952 social housing project (let them see austerity!) before watching the show (in the rain) on the roof. The grit was too much for some pampered front row-ers who compared it to sitting on the top of a Westfield car park.
In fashion, drama is everything. Rumours or perhaps wishful thinking have long abounded around Chanel since Lagerfeld’s death, with insiders desperate for its creative direction to be shaken up.
It is not the only house without a creative head currently: Givenchy has yet to announce an appointment since Matthew Williams stepped down at the end of 2023; there is much talk around the stability of British designer Kim Jones’s positions at Dior and Fendi, while at Balenciaga Demna Gvasalia’s role continues to be scrutinised.
Likely contenders to the Chanel crown include Hedi Slimane, currently creative director at Celine, which he is rumoured to have already left. His installation at Chanel would make sense to some. Beloved by Lagerfeld, who went on an extreme diet to be able to wear his Noughties skinny suits, Slimane certainly has the marketing midas touch required to shift acres of double C branded merch.
Other contenders include Pierpaolo Piccioli who earlier this year left Valentino (a role now taken up by Alessandro Michele, previously at Gucci) and John Galliano, who has been elevated by Anna Wintour of late. His haute couture collection for Maison Margiela Artisanal was a viral and industry hit in January, while his design fingerprints were all over this year’s Met Gala, with work from his tenure at Givenchy, Dior and Margiela all given prime celebrity real estate (see Zendaya, Kendall Jenner and Kim Kardashian).
The Wertheimers are of course Jewish, which may put Galliano out of the picture because of his infamous tirade, but arguably they have form in overlooking anti-semitic prejudice. Their grandfather continued to work with Chanel after she attempted to use Vichy Aryan laws to seize control of the company during WW2.
The real question may be whether they want to replace Coco Chanel or Karl Lagerfeld. Are they hoping to reclaim the wit and viral cut through of their previous design genius, or will they be looking to re-establish the fashion house codes set by its founder who famously broke down stuffy clothing rules and created a modern, easy to wear wardrobe for 20th century women.
Phoebe Philo, now helming her own eponymous label, was one name long-touted by industry insiders 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 Givenchy tenure, are both without high profile roles. They could seek to poach Nadège Vanhee-Cybulski (one of the only other women helming luxury houses) from Hermès, a move that really 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 viewed as conservative owners, unlikely to rock their billionaire boat too much. Recent high profile appointments to luxury houses have been met with mixed reactions to say the least - see Sabato de Sarno at Gucci, Seán McGirr at McQueen and Daniel Lee at Burberry. They won’t want a similar discourse here.
Whoever steps up to the Chanel plate will be met with ecstatic scrutiny over where they might take this titan of tweed and chain bags. The classic creative dilemma rears its head again - do you give customers what they’ve always wanted or seek to present them with something thrilling they didn’t know they’d adore?
As of 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.
