Virginie Viard, the successor to Karl Lagerfeld

In a move that is not surprising, Virginie Viard became the successor to Karl Lagerfeld in Chanel, which the late designer Karl Lagerfeld had always considered his successor. Therefore, on the day of his death, Virginie Viard took office and became the creative director of Chanel. Virginie has been working in this prestigious French house for 32 years, and its main mission will be to preserve the legacy of Gabrielle Chanel and Karl Lagerfeld together.

Virginie has held the position of Director of Studio Chanel since 1997, where she supervised the eight collections presented by the house annually.

Its main role was to revive Karl Lagerfeld's vision by being the link between him and the seven workshops that implement his designs. About her work in this field, she says: “My role depends on organizing the work of the workshops, communicating with buyers, choosing fabrics, and following up on measurement sessions... My work begins when I receive the drawings of the designs that I follow up to the end.”

Virginie is distinguished by her reserved personality and rarely speaks about herself in interviews, where she prefers to highlight the strong relationship she has with Karl Lagerfeld. In one of her statements about this relationship, she says: "My meeting with Karl was the most important in my professional life. When I saw him for the first time, I immediately felt the harmony between us. We do not need the language of speech to communicate with each other." As for him, he used to say about her: “It is my right hand and my left hand as well.” He loved her frankness and shared the hobby of raising cats with her.

Alongside the designer since 1987

Virginie Viard's relationship with fashion goes back to her childhood. Her father worked in the silk trade, while her mother and aunts were fashion lovers. Virginie loved the hobby of sewing and transforming fabrics into colorful dresses since she was young, and when she grew up, she studied the origins of this profession and practiced it.

The doors of Chanel were opened for her in 1987 when she entered it as a trainee, and she followed Karl Lagerfeld when he moved to Chloe in 1992 and then returned with him to Chanel five years later to take over the position of “studio director” and accompanied him throughout his career. As for next March, the date of the Chanel show of ready-to-wear for the fall-winter 2019 seasons, she will be alone in the position that Lagerfeld has held for 32 years.