Advertisement
Home Latest News

Virginie Viard Will Succeed Karl Lagerfeld At Chanel

The fashion house announced her appointment

Following the death of Karl Lagerfeld, Chanel has announced that Virginie Viard, the brandโ€™s current studio director, will succeed the legendary designer.

Advertisement

Lagerfeldโ€™s death was confirmed on Tuesday, February 19th. He was 85.

Viard has worked alongside Karl Lagerfeld since the beginning. Her tenure at Chanel started in 1987 when a family friend Prince Rainierโ€™s chamberlain, recommended Viard to the designer for an internship. The two creatives have been inseparable ever since. She followed him to Chloeฬ in 1992, and back to Chanel in 1997. At Octoberโ€™s show at the Grand Palais, she even joined him for his bow. 

RELATED: The Fashion Industryโ€™s Most Heartfelt Tributes Following Karl Lagerfeldโ€™s Death

virginie
Advertisement

Lagerfeld previously described their partnership, telling ELLE US: โ€œShe is my right hand and my left hand. Our relationship is essential, doubled by very real friendship and affection.โ€ 

Viard said of Lagerfeld, โ€œI try toโ€”to anticipate what he would like. I love to please him but also surprise him.โ€ Over the years, she has gotten to know the private Lagerfeld. โ€œHe is very sensitive, like all creative people, but very faithful, generousโ€”which might not be what people would guess.โ€

Speaking to The Telegraph in 2017, Viard described her working relationship with the Chanel designer. โ€œI make the collections come to life with the ateliers and the Mรฉtiers dโ€™Art houses, based on Karlโ€™s sketches,โ€ she said. โ€œI coordinate the teams, liaise with suppliers and choose fabrics. Then, of course, I do fittings with Karl. As soon as I receive his sketches, the process begins. I try to please him, but I like to surprise him too.โ€

Viard added that she and Lagerfeld speak โ€œall the timeโ€ and they see each other every day. Sometimes he would even send her sketches via phone. โ€œThe complicity is total,โ€ she once remarked.

Advertisement

RELATED: The Most Iconic Chanel Fashion Show Sets Of All Time

viard

Last month, Lagerfeld was absent from Chanelโ€™s couture shows in Paris because he โ€œwas feeling tired,โ€ according to a statement from the French brand at the time. Viard took the final bow in his place, accompanied by model Vittoria Ceretti, who donned the final look: an embellished bridal swimsuit.

Sheโ€™s also joined Lagerfeld for final bows at the Chanel Metiers Dโ€™Art 2018/2019 show in New York in December and the beach-themed Spring/Summer 2019 show in Paris in October.

Advertisement

WATCH: Chanelโ€™s Metiers dโ€™Art Show In NYC.

Chanel's Metiers d'Art Show in NYC
Karl Lagerfeld brought his latest Chanel Mรฉtiers dโ€™Art collection to New York City on Tuesday evening, but rather than pay tribute to Manhattan, as Donatella Versace did with her pre-fall show here on Sunday, his theme was Egypt.
0 seconds of 1 minute, 40 secondsVolume 0%
Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts
00:00
01:40
01:40
 

Related stories


Advertisement