The announcement of Viard’s departure took the industry by surprise. We reached out to fashion insiders and analysts for their reactions to the news, described by fashion journalist Loïc Prigent as “an earthquake of the highest order on the fashion Richter scale”.
Hélène Guillaume, editor-in-chief of fashion at Le Figaro
It’s sad because it marks the end of a great chapter of fashion that started with the arrival of Karl Lagerfeld at Chanel. The real succession to Karl Lagerfeld begins today. Beyond the recruitment of a new artistic director, it will be a generational change within the teams. The Wertheimer [brothers, Chanel owners,] had chosen the logic of a smooth transition, which has paid off: Virginie Viard’s collections have had tremendous commercial success. Despite a few irregularities, her legacy is one of femininity and lightness. Thanks to the exhibitions notably on Gabrielle Chanel at the Victoria & Albert Museum, she has also contributed to anchor the company’s heritage regardless of its creative director.
Alexandre Samson, curator of haute couture at Paris’s Palais Galliera
Virginie Viard’s detractors need to be reminded that Chanel is a style with codes, not theatrical gestures in the silhouettes. Covid also hit a few months after she became artistic director, a period when it was harder to stage spectacular shows in the way Karl Lagerfeld used to do. Plus, the Grand Palais [Chanel’s iconic show venue] went under renovation [from 2021 to 2024].
Mario Ortelli, managing partner of Ortelli & Co
Virginie Viard played an important role in continuing the heritage of Karl Lagerfeld. After an important chapter like the one of Karl Lagerfeld, abruptly interrupted by his death, it would have been difficult to start a chapter. Virginie Viard put into reality some of the ideas that Karl Lagerfeld didn’t have time to translate and gradually paved the way for a new chapter.
Erwan Rambourg, global head of consumer and retail equity research at HSBC
The track record of the brand has been pretty phenomenal, if you look at numbers. I don’t think Virginie Viard has done anything wrong. It’s just that you probably need some disruption after five years of continuity. In the current context, where the Chinese cluster is a question mark, the American consumer is very polarised, the European consumer is not that engaged, the Japanese consumer has landed, everything is slowing down.
