Victor VIRGILE / Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images
Virginie Viard, here in March 2020, in Paris.
FASHION – Five years and then gone. This Thursday, June 6, the haute couture house Chanel announced the departure of its artistic director and former right-hand man of Karl Lagerfeld, Virginie Viard, without however immediately naming a successor.
“Chanel confirms the departure of Virginie Viard after a rich five-year collaboration as artistic director of fashion collections”, the group said in a press release. Before adding: “A new creative organization for the house will be announced in due course. The summer 2024 haute couture collection will be presented as planned on June 25 at the Opéra Garnier. »
Virginie Viard, 62, took this extremely prestigious and demanding position in 2019, after the death of a legendary designer, Karl Lagerfeld. She had previously worked alongside him for over 20 years.
“Chanel thanks Virginie Viard for her remarkable contribution to Chanel fashion, its creativity and its vitality”, wrote the group. During his five years creating Chanel collections, the house’s sales reached record highs, with a record of nearly $20 billion in 2023, a “exceptional new year” according to the brand, with an increase of 14.6%.
Virginie Viard criticized by fashion
And yet, his work, whether in ready-to-wear or haute couture, has been criticized in the fashion world for its sometimes hazardous design or a lack of risk-taking. Influencer Hanan Besovic (@ideservecouture on Instagram), for example, did not hide his joy at the announcement of his departure this Thursday.
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One of its most popular collections, however, was that, in March, on the theme of the Normandy seaside resort of Deauville and its legendary plates in the history of cinema.
The French designer, always dressed simply herself, in a t-shirt and black pants, was extremely discreet in the press and sober in her interventions, contrasting with the flamboyant character of her mentor. Neither Chanel nor she communicated on the reasons for the end of their collaboration.
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