A fashion revolution has broken out in Paris as Virginie Viard steps down from her role as artistic director of Chanel. The news was confirmed late on Wednesday evening, with Viard reportedly leaving the legendary headquarters on Rue Cambon that afternoon.
This 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-responsibility 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 Chanel’s creative heritage, 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 remarkable contribution to Chanel’s fashion, creativity and vitality.”
Viard is stepping down after 30 years at the house, including the past five years in charge, following the death of fashion machine Karl Lagerfeld, with whom she previously worked as his right-hand man. Her ascent was then seen as a disappointing but sober path to 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 the watch division. Their grandfather Pierre helped finance Coco Chanel when she launched the phenomenally successful perfume No5 in 1924.
Chanel remains a hugely successful proposition. In recently published reports, sales are up 16 percent to $19.7 billion by 2023. Speaking to industry association Business of Fashion, Phillippe Blondiaux said that “since Virginie [Viard] taken from Karl…Chanel’s fashion business has been multiplied by 2.2. Chanel’s ready-to-wear business has multiplied by 2.5 and Chanel’s ready-to-wear business grew by 23% last year.” That seemed to put an end, at least temporarily, to concerns that Viard’s production wasn’t hitting the creative spot and that quality had dropped.
Her collections received a rather muted response from the fashion world, lost to Lagerfeld’s marketing spin. Her work may have had a softer, more feminine touch, but was often seen as lacking taste or relevance for modern women. Of course, this didn’t stop Chanel from raising the prices of its top products. An average-sized classic quilted handbag has risen 104 per cent since 2019 to around £9,000, a tweed jacket will cost you at least £6,000 as it sought to appeal to the highest spending levels of the 0.1 per cent, i.e. the only cohort left behind with cash to flash. Insiders have reportedly claimed that bag prices have been increased to compensate for poor fashion sales from Viard’s collections.
Viard’s most recent cruise show, held in the Le Corbusier-designed Center d’art de la Cité Radieuse building in Marseille, didn’t make for great optics. Guests were shown around the 1952 social housing project (show them what austerity is like!) before watching the show (in the rain) on the roof. The sand was too much for some spoiled first rowers who compared it to sitting on top of a car park in Westfield.
In fashion, drama is everything. Rumors, or perhaps wishful thinking, have been swirling around Chanel for some time since Lagerfeld’s death, with insiders desperate to find a new creative direction.
It’s not the only house currently without a creative head: 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’ positions at Dior and Fendi, while at Balenciaga Demna Gvasalia’s role remains under scrutiny.
Likely contenders for the Chanel crown include Hedi Slimane, currently creative director at Celine, from which he has reportedly already left. His installation at Chanel would make sense to some. Loved by Lagerfeld, who went on an extreme diet to wear his Noughties skinny suits, Slimane certainly has the marketing Midas touch needed to move acres of Double C branded merchandise.
Other contenders include Pierpaolo Piccioli who left Valentino earlier this year (a role now filled by Alessandro Michele, formerly at Gucci) and John Galliano, who has been elevated lately by Anna Wintour. 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 time at Givenchy, Dior and Margiela all real estate from top stars (see Zendaya, Kendall Jenner and Kim Kardashian).
The Wertheimers are of course Jewish, which Galliano may be able to put out of the picture for his infamous rant, but they arguably have a habit of overlooking anti-Semitic prejudices. Their grandfather continued to work with Chanel after she attempted to use the Aryan Vichy laws to take control of the company during World War II.
The real question might be whether they want to replace Coco Chanel or Karl Lagerfeld. Do they hope to recapture the wit and viral breakthrough of their previous design genius, or will they attempt to restore the fashion house codes of the founder, who famously broke the stuffy clothing rules and created a modern, easy-to-wear wardrobe? for 20th century women.
Phoebe Philo, who now runs her own eponymous label, was a 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 tenure at Givenchy, neither have prominent roles. They could try to poach Nadège Vanhee-Cybulski (one of the few other women heading luxury houses) from Hermès, a move that would basically mean handbags at dawn.
Chanel is the jewel of the industry, a role seen as the pinnacle of Parisian fashion. The secretive Wertheimers have always been seen as conservative owners, unlikely to rock their billionaire boat too much. Recent high-profile appointments to luxury houses have had mixed reactions to say the least – see Sabato de Sarno at Gucci, Seán McGirr at McQueen and Daniel Lee at Burberry. They don’t want a similar discourse here.
Anyone who steps onto the Chanel board will be met with ecstatic criticism about where to 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 do you try to offer them something exciting that they didn’t know they would love?
As of Thursday morning, Chanel’s website was offline for maintenance. When things click again, all eyes will be on the brand for its long-awaited new era.