Virginie Viard - Designer, Creative Director of Chanel

[Noor Amir]

Lol

 

[Noor Amir]

Lol

At least she is not a nazi or an islamaphobe.

 

[GERGIN]

At least she is not a nazi or an islamaphobe.

Coco Chanel was the Nazi, Karl Lagerfeld was only trying to eradicate her wrongdoings.

You’re correct about Karl being islamaphobe, which sucks.

But Virginie isn’t a good designer, Karl Lagerfeld is...

 

[avonlea002]

I dont think Karl was an islamaphobe.

 

[Noor Amir]

Coco Chanel was the Nazi, Karl Lagerfeld was only trying to eradicate her wrongdoings.

You’re correct about Karl being islamaphobe, which sucks.

But Virginie isn’t a good designer, Karl Lagerfeld is...

Sorry, I didn’t mean that Karl was the Nazi. I meant that Coco was. Karl was an incredible designer, but Hopefully we can have a very talented designer and an unproblematic one.

 

[Lola701]

Sorry, I didn’t mean that Karl was the Nazi. I meant that Coco was. Karl was an incredible designer, but Hopefully we can have a very talented designer and an unproblematic one.

Tbh I don’t think the fact that Coco was a Nazi has been very much a problem for the brand considering that the Weirthemers beat her at her own game and got the last laugh. Her Nazi affair was all against the people who are still now the owners of the brand.

I dont think Karl was an islamaphobe.

I don’t think he was either but he told a story on French tv that made it to YouTube where he mentionned how his Jewish friend welcomed a Muslim migrant who then threatened her. His comment was ignorant in a way how he generalized things but some perceived it as islamophobic.


At the end, Chanel needs a talented designer...Maybe less outspoken (but that is something that will be rarer in the future anyway) but someone really talented and Virginie is not that person. The beauty of fashion is that every 5 years now, things are happening.

 

[kasper!]

I somehow like Virgi, she has brought a slightly younger touch to RTW....some girlish looks on the runway. Also she also did a maryjane pump last fall/winter, which is selling very well accoring to my friend who works for Chanel.

 

[velvetandsilk]

Also she also did a maryjane pump last fall/winter, which is selling very well accoring to my friend who works for Chanel.

I am not surprised. Her collection always consist of different part address to women in all ages and taste: teenagers with rich parents, nouveau riche, old ladies which always wear Chanel, sometimes women who love high fashion. Collections it is too long and incoherent, but in respect of sell strategy, that is wondefull. All collections reveal her commercial experience.

 

[Lola701]

All collections reveal her commercial experience.

She (and the studio) was responsible of the commercial collections after all. All the non-runway collections were handled by her. So, she knows about commerce and logo.

Whether it was at Fendi, Chanel or at his own brand, Karl only designed what was shown on the runway.

 

[RaisinBoy]

Whether it was at Fendi, Chanel or at his own brand, Karl only designed what was shown on the runway.

That said, the precollections at Fendi were usually so good, mainly the years before Karl's departure. I don't know who designed them, but they beautifully translated Karl's vision into commercial clothes.

 

[Phuel]

Tbh I don’t think the fact that Coco was a Nazi has been very much a problem for the brand considering that the Weirthemers beat her at her own game and got the last laugh. Her Nazi affair was all against the people who are still now the owners of the brand.



I don’t think he was either but he told a story on French tv that made it to YouTube where he mentionned how his Jewish friend welcomed a Muslim migrant who then threatened her. His comment was ignorant in a way how he generalized things but some perceived it as islamophobic.


At the end, Chanel needs a talented designer...Maybe less outspoken (but that is something that will be rarer in the future anyway) but someone really talented and Virginie is not that person. The beauty of fashion is that every 5 years now, things are happening.

Designers these days lack any individuality let alone personality and may as well be assembly-line robots that churn out mid-range department-store offerings: Virginie and Maria Grazia exemplify this new conservatism in the industry so frighteningly on point. (And just throw down some shallow “feminist” slogan so no one dares accuse you of mediocrity.)

I was curious on what Karl said that was perceived as “Islamophobia”, and what he said was :“You cannot kill millions of Jews and then take in millions of their worst enemies afterwards, even if there are decades [between the two events].” Chanel’s Karl Lagerfeld claims Muslim migrants are ‘affront to Holocaust victims’ | World | The Times Admittedly a rather insensitive generalization that’s more classist than racist/xenophobic. He’s not wrong in that he was likely referencing the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. But of course people immediately ignore the reference and context and race to accuse him as anti-Muslim :sigh:

(Back in 1993, Karl designed a Chanel HC collection in tribute to his Muslim clientele. But they protested for his use of scriptures from the Quran as fashion accents and all pieces were immediately burned out of respect. He may be insensitive to the changing times, but to still brand him as “islamophobic” is so delberately ridiculous.)

 

[Lola701]

That said, the precollections at Fendi were usually so good, mainly the years before Karl's departure. I don't know who designed them, but they beautifully translated Karl's vision into commercial clothes.

I think we should thank Alessia Pellarini for that. She is the Womenswear design director of Fendi.

 

[perhydrol]

Eric Pfrunder has left Chanel after 37 years at the house.

By Godfrey Deeny

Eric Pfrunder, the right-hand man of Karl Lagerfeld when it came to ads, image and photography, has left Chanel after almost a four-decade career at the house.

Born in Algeria in the '50s and a noted cosmopolitan, Pfrunder was named joint artistic director of the house after the death of Lagerfeld in February 2019, from which time he worked alongside the house’s creative director and designer Virginie Viard. Pfrunder’s remit was to oversee advertising, marketing, films, events and digital.

However, as Viard gradually extended her influence and power in the house, and began using a wide variety of photographers – Juergen Teller, Karim Sadli or Inez & Vinoodh – Pfrunder’s influence had clearly waned at Chanel.

A spokesperson for the house confirmed that Pfrunder was no longer with Chanel.

“Eric has taken his retirement,” the spokesperson said.

According to sources, Pfrunder left the house some two months ago. His departure marks the latest person close to Lagerfeld to leave Chanel, and follows the exit of his intellectual muse Amanda Harlech. Back in November 2019, Harlech told friends and editors that she would be leaving Chanel, though her role eventually became one as a consultant to the house. Harlech was seen sitting front-row at the latest Chanel haute couture show early this month inside the Palais Galliera. Previously, during Karl’s tenure, she was always back stage at every show, surveying the cast as they exited onto the catwalk.

“Virginie’s designs have been very successful commercially, though they are quite in line with what Karl did at Chanel. So in order to mark out her terrain, and differentiate her vision she clearly felt the need for change,” commented one Chanel insider.

Pfrunder first entered Chanel back in 1983. After Lagerfeld lamented the quality of one campaign shoot in 1987 by a hired photographer, Pfrunder was the first person to suggest to Karl that he shoot the campaigns himself.

After that, no photo séance with Lagerfeld was complete without Pfrunder’s presence, most notably at 7L, Karl’s bookshop and photo studio at number 7 Rue de Lille on Paris' Left Bank. Pfrunder also played a key role in aiding Lagerfeld make the switch over from analog to digital photography.

After Lagerfeld’s death, Pfrunder was entrusted with the curation of Lagerfeld’s giant archive of campaigns, portraiture, magazine shoots and studies of architecture at which Karl particularly excelled. A position he still very much holds.

More recently, in January, Pfrunder had announced he had joined the board of Lukso, the blockchain startup.

from us.fashionnetwork.com

 

[aracic]

^Can we blame him? Lol She's single-handedly destroying that poor house.

 

[Lola701]

I mean, I can’t blame her…Karl even got fired the person who wanted him at Chanel in the first place…

It’s a bit bittersweet tho considering how the brand, while still commercially successful, is loosing it luster.

 

[Frederic01]

It's good to hear news such as this, as Chanel needs a definite shake-up at the top in order to allow Virginie more room to express her creativity and vision for the brand. They need fresh voices and more diversity in the team in order to move forward; change is good, especially at a brand like Chanel.

I personally don't think the lustre of the brand has faded at all. They still do a far superior job than any other brand by keeping everything very exclusive, not selling online, refusing to branch out into baby-wear/homewares/etc, and by maintaining strong ambassadors. In my mind Chanel is a much more prestigious brand than say Hermès, which perpetuates an image of prestige but which in reality is far from it. They sell bathroom accessories and kids toys next to their bags and high jewellery!

 

[Mathewthew]

Chanel Store is the only one that still have a queue outside the store in my city...

 

[SophiaVB]

Chanel Store is the only one that still have a queue outside the store in my city...

so does supreme

 

[LoveFashion25]

^Can we blame him? Lol She's single-handedly destroying that poor house.

Right. Chanel has lost its sparkle it once had.

 

[TianCouture]

I see so many styling attributes from the early aughts in VV's current work. I loved that era in Chanel, the Paris-meets-London-meets the world slightly rock and roll edge runway and I see a lot of that in what she is doing from a styling perspective. However when she misses, she like, really, really misses. The little dressing number in fall couture were flat out incorrect!