From Marc Jacobs to Phoebe Philo, explore who is in the talks to be the next Chanel Artistic Director and who deserves the iconic role. Chanel, resort 2025. Photo: Acielle/StyleDuMonde The news that Virginie Viard was leaving her artistic director post stopped fashion in its tracks yesterday.
After all, Chanel sales went from $11.1 billion in 2018 just before Viard was appointed to $19.7 billion in 2023.
In that time frame, the fashion business was multiplied 2.2 and in 2023, the ready-to-wear business grew by 23%, CFO Philippe Blondiaux told Vogue Business in an interview in May. Over her five-year tenure as artistic director, Viard didn’t just grow the business.
She was credited with bringing a new diversity to Chanel’s runways, and a youthful breeziness to her designs. Vogue ’s Hamish Bowles, reviewing her first solo collection for the house said it had “something of the insouciance that Chanel herself believed in.” But that seemed to come at the expense of the pomp and circumstance of collections by Karl Lagerfeld, whose boundless creativity brought a sense of import to all that he touched.
The announcement of Viard’s departure has spiraled off copious discussions about who will land the coveted position—and who should. Sarah Burton, Pierpaolo Piccioli, Riccardo Tisci, and Marc Jacobs, all of whom have held high profile creative director jobs in the past but aren’t currently installed at a heritage brand, have been mentioned. Nicolas Ghesquière and Phoeb.
