Breaking news: Virginie Viard has left Chanel

It’s all change on the fashion merry-go-round once again, as it was announced tonight [June 5] that Virginie Viard would be saying her goodbyes at Chanel. The news was confirmed by Vogue Business.

Viard’s departure marks the end of a 30 year commitment to the house. The French designer originally worked closely with Karl Lagerfeld, acting as his right-hand woman when he steered Chanel through supermarkets, between ice-caps, and down to the beach at his stellar runway shows.

After Lagerfeld passed away in 2019, few were surprised that Viard would take the lead, as she was appointed artistic director. In the five years since she took over from Lagerfeld, Viard has collaborated with Pharrell Williams and Dazed’s IB Kamara, and most recently staged her 2025 Cruise show in Marseille. Sadly, particularly since it will now be remembered as her last presentation, as with many Cruise shows this season, it pissed it down throughout.

Rumours have often swirled about Viard's tenure at Chanel, with many tipping Lagerfeld fave Hedi Slimane as her successor. Lagerfeld famously went on a strict diet to fit into Slimane’s super-skinny suiting back in the early 00s and was a longtime champion of the rising designer. Others whose names have been thrown in the hat lately across social media include John Galliano and Simon Porte Jacquemus. This, however, would mean yet another of fashion’s most prestigious houses being handed over to a man, and Lord knows we've seen too much of that recently.

For now, the house is keeping its lips sealed. “Chanel confirms the departure of Virginie Viard after a rich collaboration of five years as artistic director of fashion collections, during which she was able to renew the codes of the house while respecting the creative heritage of Chanel, and almost thirty years within the house,” it shared in a statement with Vogue Business. “A new creative organisation will be announced in due course. Chanel would like to thank Virginie Viard for her remarkable contribution to Chanel’s fashion, creativity and vitality.”

Revisit the time Chanel took Manchester in the gallery above.