(Updated with confirmation from Chanel, context)
Chanel artistic director Virginie Viard will leave the fashion house, the luxury brand announced Thursday, triggering an avalanche of speculation about the potential successor to one of the fashion industry’s most high-profile positions .
“A new chapter is opening for Chanel Mode,” the house said in a statement, confirming the information reported late the day before by the fashion information site Business of Fashion.
The French brand, known for its tweed suits, quilted handbags and No. 5, its iconic perfume, said a “new creative organization” would be announced in due course and thanked Virginie Viard for her “rich collaboration for five years.
Virginie Viard, 62 years old and 30 years at the house, was appointed artistic director of Chanel in 2019, after the death of Karl Lagerfeld.
His departure comes as the sector adapts to slower growth and several other brands, such as Gucci, owned by Kering PRTP.PA , seek a new creative lease to revive sales.
The post-pandemic boom, fueled by pent-up demand for fashion, has petered out due to the rising cost of living.
Chanel’s teams will ensure the “continuity” of the collections during the interim period, and the brand will present its fall-winter 2024/2025 haute couture fashion show on June 25 in Paris.
Last month, Chanel chief executive Leena Nair dismissed rumors that a change in artistic direction was planned.
The second world brand after Louis Vuitton, owned by LVMH LVMH.PA, Chanel belongs to the two French billionaires Alain Wertheimer and Gérard Wertheimer.
(Reporting by Mimosa Spencer in Paris, with Chandni Shah in Bangalore; French version by Camille Raynaud and Kate Entringer, edited by Blandine Hénault)