As Lagerfeld said of Viard last year in the Netflix documentary 7 Days Out, “Virginie is the most important person, not only for me but also for the atelier, for everything. She is my right arm, and even if I don’t see her, we are on the phone all the time.” Lagerfeld also shared the spotlight with her at some of Chanel’s shows, where the pair took bows together. At Chanel’s most recent haute couture show, Viard took a bow alone as Lagerfeld’s health prohibited him from being present.
Pfrunder will continue to oversee matters like advertising, marketing, films, events, and digital effort. A longtime Chanel veteran, Pfrunder may very well be the reason Lagerfeld embarked on a side career as a photographer later in life. According to WWD, back in 1987, Lagerfeld once complained to Pfrunder about the quality of images used in a press kit, so Pfrunder dared him to pick up a camera and try himself. “I said to Karl, ‘Okay, now you do it,’” he said. Both Pfrunder and Lagerfeld started at Chanel in 1983, and Lagerfeld had considered Pfrunder, along with Viard, as part of the stable of leaders at the company.
The appointment of two of Lagerfeld’s closest collaborators is also a testament to the designer’s legacy. He leaves the house, which between the death of its founder, Coco Chanel, and his own arrival was often on rocky footing, as strong as it’s ever been, and the appointments are a vote of confidence that there’s no pressing need to pursuit anything wildly different.
Even not being a huge fan of Chanel, this makes me feel 
