By Stephy Chung, CNN
(CNN) — Virginie Viard is exiting Chanel after 5 years serving because the French luxurious home’s creative director of trend collections.
The designer took on the place following Karl Lagerfeld’s demise in 2019 after working alongside him at Chanel for many years. She held considered one of trend’s most coveted and elite jobs – with solely Lagerfeld and Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel herself appearing as earlier creative administrators for the storied model.
In a press assertion to CNN, Chanel confirmed Viard’s departure, writing that whereas the 62-year-old designer was on the helm, “she was in a position to renew the codes of the home whereas respecting the artistic heritage of Chanel, and virtually thirty years inside the home.”
A successor has but to be named, however the branded added that an announcement can be made “in the end.”
Chanel stated that it needed to thank Viard “for her exceptional contribution to Chanel’s trend, creativity and vitality.”
Simply final month, Chanel’s chief govt Leena Nair instructed The Business of Fashion that “since Virginie took over from Karl… the Chanel trend enterprise has multiplied by 2.2. The Chanel ready-to-wear enterprise has been multiplied by 2.5, and the ready-to-wear enterprise final yr of Chanel grew by 23%.”
The model’s earnings rose 16 p.c to $19.7 billion in 2023.
As one of many business’s most iconic and highly effective gamers, Lagerfeld’s demise in 2019 rocked the style world, and whereas he additionally headed up Fendi and his eponymous label on the time of his demise, it was Lagerfeld’s prolific work at Chanel that he was greatest recognized for.
Viard, who began at Chanel as an intern in 1987, went on to grow to be Lagerfeld’s deputy for many years. So shut was the pair’s working relationship that the German designer as soon as described her as “my proper arm and my left arm.”
Viard’s 2019 appointment got here as no shock, with Chanel reiterating that the choice was made “in order that the legacy of Gabrielle Chanel and Karl Lagerfeld can reside on.”
Who steps into the position this time shall be a subject of great hypothesis over the approaching weeks.
The information follows a sequence of excessive profile strikes within the business. In March, Valentino’s Pierpaolo Piccioli parted methods with the Italian label after eight years as artistic director, with Alessandro Michele (previously of Gucci) getting into the position. British designer Sarah Burton stepped down from Alexander McQueen in September final yr.
Chanel is scheduled to stage a runway present at Paris Haute Couture week in June, in what’s believed to be Viard’s final assortment for the model.
The-CNN-Wire
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