Meet Virginie Viard, Karl Lagerfeld’s Successor at Chanel

Karl Lagerfeld held a prolific tenure at the helm of Chanel from 1983 to his final days in 2019. Who could possibly follow in the revolutionary designer's footsteps? The French fashion house announced today that Virginie Viard, Lagerfeld's right-hand, will take over the creative operations for the brand following the designer's passing "so that the legacy of Gabrielle Chanel and Karl Lagerfeld can live on."

Getty Images Pascal Le Segretain

Here's what you need to know about the new designer leading Chanel.

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They worked very closely in their day-to-day.

“I make the collections come to life with the ateliers and the Métiers d’Art houses, based on Karl’s sketches,” Viard told The Telegraph in 2017. “I coordinate the teams, liaise with suppliers and choose fabrics. Then, of course, I do fittings with Karl. As soon as I receive his sketches, the process begins. I try to please him, but I like to surprise him too.”

Viard added that she and Lagerfeld speak “all the time” and they see each other every day. Sometime he sends her sketches via phone. “The complicity is total,” she added.

Lagerfeld of Viard in Netflix’s 7 Days Out documentary series, per Who What Wear: “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.”

Getty Images Bertrand Rindoff Petroff

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