Chanel has announced that Virginie Viard is stepping down as creative director at the house.
The designer has been with Chanel for 30 years, in her first 25 years at the house she had a close working relationship with her predecessor, Karl Lagerfeld, who once described her as “my right arm and my left arm.”
She was named the successor to Lagerfeld in 2019 following the designer’s death, and since then Viard has seen great commercial success with the house, with sales reaching nearly $20 billion in 2023 alone.
In a statement, Chanel said: “Chanel would like to thank Virginie Viard for her remarkable contribution to Chanel’s fashion, creativity and vitality…during which she was able to renew the codes of the house while respecting the creative heritage of Chanel.”
According to the house, The Haute Couture Fall-Winter 2024/25 collection will be presented as planned on the 25th of June 25 at the Opéra Garnier in Paris and Viard’s success will be announced in due course.
