Karl Lagerfeld was Chanel’s artistic director for over 35 years, so his name basically became a synonym for this brand. The difference between Chanel and other two brands was that this one named Karl’s successor on the day of his death already. Virginie Viard got the role and became the new creative director of Chanel. It seems as a completely reasonable choice, although her name is not highly recognizable beyond the most privileged circles of people in fashion. However, the ones familiar with the current situation say that no one else could maintain the entire picture of Chanel better than her. The fact that she will be the one to continue Karl’s work was clear when, in January, she bowed down to the audience instead of Karl. There is a rumor that naming her the new creative director was just a temporary solution, but there are no indications who it really might be.
Viard has worked with Karl for over 30 years. She was Chanel’s director of fashion design studio, which meant that she brought Karl’s fantasies to real life.
Based on sketches that Karl made, Virginie had worked with ateliers and coordinated teams, chose materials, and negotiated with the suppliers. During the process she tried to meet all of his expectations, but also to surprise him with something new.
WHAT WOULD COCO SAY?
It is a big question whether it is a better choice for a fashion company to hire some uprising famous designer, as did Dior, when hiring Raf Simons, or to stick with someone who would continue the existing vision. Chanel is the brand that would rather stay stable than make some evolutional changes. And, that is obviously the successful strategy, since Chanel is one of the most prestigious brands together with Louis Vuitton.
It is possible that Virginie Viard was the choice that corresponded to the question that lays in Chanel: What would Coco say?
She is more than familiar with the internal businesses of the brand, and it looks like she has no intention of leaving it. It also does not look like she wants to change the brand’s image to suit herself or to ask what Karl would do, but the famous “What would Coco do?”
KARL LAGERFELD
On the other hand, his own brand did not publish who will continue Karl’s work yet. ‘We are currently in grief, we will make these decisions in the future’, was said from the brand. Karl has built a strong creative team, which includes Hun Kim, design director, as well as Carine Roitfeld, ex editor of Vogue magazine. Hun Kim looks like he had full trust of Karl, by becoming the head of design department in 2015. Before that, this excellent designer was the creative director for Tommy Hilfiger, as well as senior designer for Ralph Lauren and Converse.
WHAT ABOUT FENDI?
And as we have seen Chanel did not take long to make the decision, Italian fashion brand Fendi, which Lagerfeld was in the top of for 50 years, takes its time. Silvia Venturini Fendi, granddaughter of founder of the brand, expands her influence on the company more and more in the last few years, so it would not be a big surprise if she would be the next one to be the head of this company.
THE MOST ICONIC LAGERFELD MOMENTS
Adult fun
Karl’s spring 1993 Fendi collection was a big controversy, after Moana Pozzi, porn star, had appeared on the catwalk as a model. Anna Wintour had left the show in Milan in the moment she saw her. Later, Wintour and Lagerfeld had cleared things up and she considered him her true and loyal friend
A Little black jacket
Redesigned iconic Chanel jackets were a big fashion boom. They had a book written about them. In the book ‘The Little Black Jacket’ Karl and French fashion editor Carine Roitfeld came together and presented 21 photos of different celebrities wearing this legendary piece, styled by Roitfeld.
Choupette the cat
There are not a lot of cats that have their own housekeepers, travel in the private jets, have their own Instagram profile or Wikipedia page dedicated to them. However, Karl’s cat had reached that kind of fame. He was gifted the cat from the model Baptiste Giabiconi in 2011 and that is when the cat ‘obsession’ begins. Lagerfeld told the Numero Magazine that Choupette stole his heart because ‘she is beautiful and looks carefully and has a good balance, but her best quality is that she does not speak’. In one moment he said he would marry the cat if it was legal. Who will take care of her is still unknown.
Supermarket chic
Lagerfeld was known for making huge fashion scenes and shows inside the Grand Palais for every Paris Fashion Week. The A/W 2014-2015 is remembered for transforming big Palace in ____ into supermarket in which everything was fully adapted for the show.
