Virginie Viard Will Succeed Karl Lagerfeld
She was more secretive than Karl Lagerfeld was, and yet, just as important as he was for the rejuvenation of Chanel. Virginie Viard, Director of the Fashion Creation Studio of the French House, has been appointed to succeed the deceased designer this Tuesday, February 19, 2019. " It is Virginie Viard, Director of Chanel Fashion Creation Studio and the closest associate of Karl Lagerfeld for more than 30 years, that Alain Wertheimer entrusted the care of ensuring the creation of collections to continue to live the legacy of Gabrielle Chanel and Karl Lagerfeld," announced the house in a statement.
Thus, last January 22, in the absence of Karl Lagerfeld, it was she who had greeted the crowd at the end of the Spring 2019 show. The event had also shaken the fashion sphere because the fashion genius has never once been amiss during one of his shows. So, it begs the question: Who is Virginie Viard?
In 1987 she met Karl Lagerfeld when she started an internship at Chanel. The creator will quickly become a mentor to the point that she will not leave him. After five years in the house on Rue Cambon, she followed him even when he joined Chloe, then in decline. But ten years later, in 1997, she makes a comeback, to take the direction of Chanel studio, a position she has not left since.
Interviewed by The Telegraph in November 2017, she was confiding about her mission in the shadow of the Kaiser during the Spring-Summer 2018 show: " I bring the collections to life with the workshops and houses of the Artistic Department, After Karl's sketches, I coordinate the teams, collaborate with the suppliers and choose the fabrics, then, of course, I make adjustments with Karl, and as soon as I get his sketches, the process starts and I try to please him, but I also like to surprise him, "she said.
Regarded as Karl Lagerfeld's "left arm and right arm", she confided in an interview with Time in 2014 about the pair's work relationship noting, "I do not know, I do not fit in. I'm here. ..] He gives me his stuff and then I make my sauce. He likes that I do like that, " she assured before commenting on their complicity. "But hey, this job is not a job, it's a passion" In the same interview, Virginie Viard also paid tribute to her mentor explaining, "his way of working is so funny his way to be as He is so funny We do not mind two seconds..! with him, he's not pretentious, that's what I love, she said, he's very conscientious, hardworking, but he does not take his head, they're just clothes, but with him they are magical, he loves fashion, he does not get tired of it." Virginie Viard will continue to shine the double C of the house without him.
