Chanel Designer Virginie Viard to Exit the Brand

PARIS – Chanel inventive director Virginie Viard is about to exit the model, Chanel confirmed to BoF.

A brand new inventive organisation “will likely be introduced in the end,” the corporate mentioned.

Groups had been knowledgeable of Viard’s departure Wednesday afternoon, leaving a quick window to say goodbye to the designer earlier than she departed Chanel’s historic base on Paris’ Rue Chambon, sources advised BoF.

Chanel issued a press release by e-mail late Wednesday night time. “Chanel confirms the departure of Virginie Viard after a wealthy collaboration of 5 years as Creative Director of Trend collections, throughout which she was capable of renew the codes of the Home whereas respecting the inventive heritage of Chanel, and nearly thirty years throughout the Home.”

Viard, a longtime deputy of Karl Lagerfeld who first joined the home in 1987, took over as inventive director for style collections following the German designer’s 2019 dying.

Viard presided over Chanel throughout a historic surge in gross sales as demand for luxurious items exploded in the course of the Covid-19 pandemic. The corporate reported 2023 revenues of $19.7 billion in 2023, up greater than 75 p.c over 2018.

Viard, aged 62, oversaw a sprawling style empire together with sought-after purses, style jewelry, footwear and extra. Prepared-to-wear gross sales have expanded by an element of two.5 in contrast with 2018, Chanel says, because the designer carried on Lagerfeld’s legacy whereas subtly re-tailoring signature gadgets like $20,000 tweed jackets with a lighter, extra supple silhouette.

Whereas the model maintained its place as a go-to uniform for rich ladies from birthday dinners to the boardroom, the authority of its runway exhibits and the high-flying fabulosity of its advertising and marketing each appeared to wane. As soon as untouchable, Chanel grew to become a goal for complaints on-line, each for its runway and red-carpet styling and for the standard of its merchandise as costs soared.

In campaigns, the model beforehand recognized for its crystal clear codes and message moved from idea to idea as Viard experimented every season with the photographers Inez and Vinoodh. In an inversion of luxurious style’s typical observe, the model’s artwork path appeared to alter as usually as the garments.

Viard’s exit is bound to accentuate rumours of pending shake-ups in luxurious style’s senior ranks.

At LVMH, Celine inventive director Hedi Slimane — who channels Lagerfeld by photographing his personal collections — is claimed to have been locked in a thorny contract negotiation since final fall that might result in his exit. Different prime designers who’re at the moment free brokers embrace former Valentino director Pierpaolo Piccioli and former Givenchy designer Sarah Burton.

C-suite management is in flux at a lot of LVMH manufacturers, with Fendi having named a brand new CEO final week, Pierre-Emmanuel Angeloglou, whereas Sidney Toledano has reportedly returned to assist lead LVMH’s Trend Group construction simply months after stepping down because the unit’s CEO.

Elsewhere, luxurious manufacturers are bracing for a rocky 12 months as demand cools off from post-pandemic highs within the US and Europe, whereas slower development and plummeting ranges of client confidence in China depress gross sales in what was previously the trade’s key development engine. Gucci-owner Kering’s first-half income are prone to plunge by 40 to 45 p.c, the group mentioned in April. Gross sales at Burberry slumped 12 p.c within the first three months of 2024.

Even Chanel is adapting to “a more difficult setting,” CFO Philippe Blondiaux not too long ago advised BoF. Nonetheless, Chanel mentioned it deliberate to extend capital investments, notably in retail shops and actual property, by no less than 50 p.c this 12 months. “This era of slowdown, because it’s been characterised by a few of our rivals, will provide alternatives, whether or not it’s when it comes to actual property, boutiques, vertical integration of our provide chain, folks,” Blondiaux mentioned.