Photo: Stephane Cardinale-Corbis via Getty Images/Corbis via Getty Images
After 30 years at Chanel and five as the artistic director, Virginie Viard is stepping down.
In a statement to Vogue Business, the house confirmed Viard’s exit. “Chanel confirms the departure of Virginie Viard after a rich collaboration of five years as artistic director of fashion collections,” the statement said, noting that a new creative direction will be announced “in due course” and thanked Viard “for her remarkable contribution to Chanel’s fashion, creativity and vitality.”
Viard was appointed as Karl Lagerfeld’s successor after his death in 2019. Her work was sometimes polarizing among critics, including the Cut’s own Cathy Horyn, who once called her approach “tentative” but nonetheless acknowledged Viard’s commercial success. Chanel’s sales rose 16 percent from 2022 to 2023 under Viard’s lead, raking in a whopping $19.7 billion.
Chanel is still slated to present its haute couture Autumn/Winter collection on June 25 in Paris.