Virginie Viard - Designer, Creative Director of Chanel

[Cocteau Stone]

I feel like journalists have been churning the same rhetoric since the late 80s when it comes to the collapse of system. Literally during every season in the 90s had some kind of puff piece about regarding trends of supermodels, grunge, heroin chic, logomania, corporate growth, y2k etc. etc. Find something else to do or write about.

 

[tourbillions]

for a while i thought burton is replacing mary gracy at dior. and mary grace goes to gucci. that would be quite the turn of events.

 

[tomtakesphotos]

Great BOF article

noting it doesn't speculate that galliano wiped his instagram because he would leave margiela/go somewhere new it only says that people talked about this when he did that, so, to the above user u can calm down maybe, because indeed people (here) did talk

i feel like it misses the bigger financial picture, private equity stripping everything down the bones and selling off the parts just generally in our society, housing affordability, overall declining sense of dressing nice, declining quality of clothes, quality of art, music etc. it just all feels like a big decline, and yet, at the same time things are less affordable-- they are made in basically sweatshops yet they're more expensive than ever, housing went from something like 30% of avg person's salary to 50% but guess what it's all less beautiful and more chaotic as well.. nothing has gotten better, so of course, the shareholders are deciding to take all these brands built by true artists and turn them into 1k hoodie factories for the new wealthy chinese.. until that stops working.. it's all ruined

 

[Grets]

The cover stories on BOF (at the moment it's Valentino) heavily focus on the biggest brands. Sometimes at the very corner or bottom maybe a piece on some emerging designer doing something interesting with social media. But rarely do these big media outlets cover emerging designers in a substantial way. And of course Prada, Valentino etc will pay for advertising space on these publications and then they'll write nice articles on them, and that's heavily the business of journalism. It's not that the talent isn't there, it's that the outlets that should be reporting on and elevating these new creatives aren't doing it. But sure lament over the state of fashion while doing little to do anything about it.

 

[Creative]

That article is really spot on. I 100000% agree with him. We are entering in a new era for fashion. The creative directors' approach get burnt really, really quickly. People get tired of everything really fast. The hype lasts a few seasons and then you are over. And when you play the game so much you end up like Gucci. Also, there are no new relevant voices. It's all so banal, insipid and boring.

I think what happened to Chanel is really meaningful. We all thought it was an untouchable brand and I feel the new designer/era will make it a "vulnerable" house for the first time since KL started there.

You have Fendi, Givenchy, Burberry, Gucci, McQueen, Versace... all completely lost. Dior being Zara 2.0, Chanel with no creative leader, Valentino desperate for sales trying to replicate Gucci's success (several years later).

Greediness and democratization killed fashion. I see brands under the 1Billion asking for 20% growth when they don't even have the infraestructure to support that... It is really like a supermarket. And it is sad. Creativity left the chat ages ago. It's a product industry now managed by brainless people.

 

[jeremydante]

When are we getting her replacement, and what staff left with her? That's what I want to know.

 

[Thefrenchy]

The Fashion System Is Creaking. Will It Collapse?​

That's a really good article, I wish it had its own thread to discuss.

What explains this pattern of events? There are a variety of forces at work, but I think it has something to do with a gradual breakdown of the social contract between creatives and their corporate bosses, who are not championing creativity in the way they once did..

I have said it before including multiple times here, and I'll say it forever. This is the heart of the problem.

We, as creatives, lost the moment we were forced to let our ideas be (at best) diluted by execs who only care about results read on an excel spreadsheet. Many people who consume fashion (visually or in store) always complain that X,Y or Z is so boring; but they don't realise that most of the time we are literally forced to do the dumb hoodie, the damn sneaker and the most plain image to ensure it's "easy to push". This isn't fun for any of us. Pair that with budget cuts that impact everything from product dev to campaign possibilities and you get why everything is so plain. There needs to be a shift with a new generation of execs who understand creatives and believe in them; enough with CFOs who become CEOs...

For Chanel / Viard, I found them very weak in how they marketed her. They could have amplified her voice much more as a woman designer at the helm of the ultimate luxury brand. Instead it was all so... quiet. Quiet personality and quiet (I'm being nice) designs, and the whole room fell asleep.

 

[Creative]

For me it’s also crazy the huge cuts on quality and costs. The greediness is just next level.

I asked a merchandiser why a bag didn’t have a detachable strap and they told me: it’s just more expensive to produce. CRRRRRAZY. Even Zara has detachable straps, what the actual f***k!

Back on topic, I think they will be without a creative leader for more than a year.

 

[TomBlanksFullFatMiuMiu]

For me it’s also crazy the huge cuts on quality and costs. The greediness is just next level.

I asked a merchandiser why a bag didn’t have a detachable strap and they told me: it’s just more expensive to produce. CRRRRRAZY. Even Zara has detachable straps, what the actual f***k!

Back on topic, I think they will be without a creative leader for more than a year.

They F up big time since their infamous Christmas calendar 2021, so greedy! Insanely tacky when Tiktokers and YouTubers mock you online with reason.
Under Lagerfeld and even without a CEO (2016-2021), Chanel was the perfect well oiled machine

Now you have the new CEO Leena Nair wanting to double current Chanel revenue in a decade according to Vogue....

 

[Darko]

 

[PDFSD]

Like all Youtube thumbnails big clickbait statement ...but funny to watch :-)
now i have: allegedly stuck in my head LOL

Basically his intel is saying that they requested for a 3th HC per year + VV stated that Chanel starting to behave like fast fashion company to slow it down.

 

[Caffeine]

Thanks for posting. If theses are true, the entire situation is then my case B where Leena squeezed out VV. This is ominous.

If Leena runs Chanel like P&G, then we will get a P&G.

 

[Grets]

Chanel is either ramping up to sell itself or the new CD doesn't want the old team

 

[LadyJunon]

Basically his intel is saying that they requested for a 3th HC per year + VV stated that Chanel starting to behave like fast fashion company to slow it down.

Don't the "Metiers d'Art" collections serve that purpose? That aside, a 3rd HC collection wouldn't any sense in the seasonal calendar? What would they even call it? People already have issues with understanding how pre-collections work, let's not make it worse for them.

Chanel is either ramping up to sell itself or the new CD doesn't want the old team

I imagine that it's the latter. Mainly, because the Wertheimer estate is just way too expensive of an entity to sell in one piece.

If the "Chanel" brand pulls in EUR 20 billion in revenue, an starting price of at least 40 to 60 billion for the core brand and assets alone. If we add Le19M (specialist ateliers), Eres (swimwear/lingerie), Tanner Krole (leather goods), Holland & Holland (gunmaking), Wertheimer et Frère (horseracing/breeding), Château Rauzan-Ségla and Château Canon (vineyards/wineries) to the equation, they could easily demand 100 billion for their entire estate.

 

[tourbillions]

where is that guy getting all his tea and why is he so obssessed. let it go hun, everyone just wants to know the new CD.

 

[Darko]

Like all Youtube thumbnails big clickbait statement ...but funny to watch :-)
now i have: allegedly stuck in my head LOL

Basically his intel is saying that they requested for a 3th HC per year + VV stated that Chanel starting to behave like fast fashion company to slow it down.

Like all Youtube thumbnails big clickbait statement ...but funny to watch :-)
now i have: allegedly stuck in my head LOL

Basically his intel is saying that they requested for a 3th HC per year + VV stated that Chanel starting to behave like fast fashion company to slow it down.

Allegedly ofc 😆😆😆

 

[yslforever]

Chanel is either ramping up to sell itself or the new CD doesn't want the old team

Ding ding ! we might have a winner !

 

[yslforever]

If the "Chanel" brand pulls in EUR 20 billion in revenue, an starting price of at least 40 to 60 billion for the core brand and assets alone. If we add Le19M (specialist ateliers), Eres (swimwear/lingerie), Tanner Krole (leather goods), Holland & Holland (gunmaking), Wertheimer et Frère (horseracing/breeding), Château Rauzan-Ségla and Château Canon (vineyards/wineries) to the equation, they could easily demand 100 billion for their entire estate.

They don't want to sell all their estate, only Chanel and its suppliers (19M), because they are very indecisive about their their succession. And to be honest the Heilbrons are much more invested in Chanel decisions than the Wertheimers.
Holland & Holland has already been resold.
Being very attached to Normandy, where they have nearly 20 properties or haras, they somehow own also part of Guy Degrenne (which I doubt is included in the Chanel package).
Wines and horses are their hobbies, as they don't really collect art, no reasons to sell that.

 

[LadyJunon]

They don't want to sell all their estate, only Chanel and its suppliers (19M), because they are very indecisive about their their succession. And to be honest the Heilbrons are much more invested in Chanel decisions than the Wertheimers.
Holland & Holland has already been resold.
Being very attached to Normandy, where they have nearly 20 properties or haras, they somehow own also part of Guy Degrenne (which I doubt is included in the Chanel package).
Wines and horses are their hobbies, as they don't really collect art, no reasons to sell that.

That makes more sense. Still, Chanel (+Le19M and Eres) could justifiably demand a price that could easily put a luxury conglomorate in the red for several years. Even LVMH would have to take a certain approach to avoid taking a huge hit.

 

[PDFSD]

They don't want to sell all their estate, only Chanel and its suppliers (19M), because they are very indecisive about their their succession. And to be honest the Heilbrons are much more invested in Chanel decisions than the Wertheimers.
Holland & Holland has already been resold.
Being very attached to Normandy, where they have nearly 20 properties or haras, they somehow own also part of Guy Degrenne (which I doubt is included in the Chanel package).
Wines and horses are their hobbies, as they don't really collect art, no reasons to sell that.

Why not do the Rolex's ownership structure by way of a non-profit entity that is owned by a Foundation,that has the actual operational ownership of the company is vested in several private entities. with all of these ‘owners’ working together to ensure the legacy, history and everything.

Maybe it only possible with Swiss law, but the with the holdings in Holland and London etc.... i think should be possible to move to Switzerland ?
Strange they would only think of now regarding the future.