Celebrating the legacy of Chanel's Virginie Viard

After 30 years, including the last five years as artistic director, Virginie Viard has left Chanel. 

Viard was appointed artistic director in 2019 after Karl Lagerfeld died. Now, all eyes are set on the forthcoming haute couture autumn/winter 2024/25 collection, which will be presented on 25 June at the Opéra Garnier. 

In the past five years, Viard has attempted to make the brand youthful, pared-back and accessible, taking a departure from the larger-than-life theatricality synonymous with the Lagerfeld era. From laying emphasis on shorts, from micro versions to bermudas, to toying with camellias as appliques on jumpers and recalling Coco Chanel's seminal works in cinema history, Viard's collections respected the hallowed codes of the house while also embodying a free spirited, street attitude. In fact, some of the ensembles reflected Viard's personal style, an unmistakable Parisian street cred with an indulgent nod to the exuberant 1980s. Here's a look at some of her more significant showcases:

Chanel Spring 2020 couture

Viard has often delved deeply into Coco's life—from the decor of her apartment on Rue Cambon to her friend circle comprising the likes of Cocteau, Dali and Picasso. Easily one of her best couture collections, for Spring 2020, she trained her focus on the Abbey of Aubazine (which Viard visited)—an orphanage where Coco grew up and where the uniforms of the nuns in black and white inspired her to explore the stark monochromes. 

At the Grand Palais, Viard recreated a humble convent garden punctuated with linen sheets hung up as though freshly washed. Viard's models looked like prim and polished school girls wearing tweed suit jackets, skirts and overskirts, all embodying a couture spirit which is so central to the design house yet austere in execution. 

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Chanel Métiers d'Art 2020/21

While visiting Château de Chenonceau (also known as Château des femmes), Virginie Viard was amazed to see how the castle setting slightly evoked La Pausa—Gabrielle Chanel's country house in the south of France. For instance, King Henry's Italian wife Catherine de Medici's symbol (which is seen across the chateau) was a linked double C, similar to Chanel's interlocking Cs. Moreover, Viard extrapolated the architectural designs and blooms growing in the property into appliques, embroideries and prints. ⁠She also derived inspiration from Lagerfeld's fall 1983 trompe l'oeil "shower" collection that featured faucets and showerheads. Her court dresses, velvet jackets, tweed coats styled with leggings and Baroque-laced sautoir necklaces were a charming conversation between the past and the present.

Chanel Fall 2021 couture

The take off point for Chanel's fall haute couture showcase was Viard's discovery of portraits of Gabrielle Chanel dressed up in black or white 1880s-style dresses. From there, the creative director conceptualized a collection inspired by tableaux or paintings. Inspired by works of Berthe Morisot, Marie Laurencin and Édouard Manet, she presented retrospective pieces that reimagine the Impressionist movement, from the paintings and patterns to the silhouettes of eras past, in Chanel's signature style. The show was held at the iconic museum of art and fashion Palais Galliera.

Chanel Spring 23 couture

For Chanel's SS23 outing, Viard forged an artistic alliance with artist Xavier Veilhan to recreate objects and sculptures inspired by the animalistic elements at Coco Chanel's iconic Paris apartment. Besides a litany of short tweed suits and coat dresses embroidered with kittens, corgis, rabbits and swallows appliques, the show also featured 11 monumental animals made of wood, cardboard and paper, created by Veilhan. These animals hid models and then opened to let them escape. The classic Chanel lunch suit derived its codes from the female uniforms of parades and spectacles. There were top hats, bow ties, white gloves, laced boots, satin cape, pleated skirt, jackets double-breasted or with tails, tuxedo shirt, sequins, short shorts and petticoats—the quintessential components that are core of the brand.

Chanel ⁠Spring Summer 23 Ready To Wear

Viard had the iconic Nouvelle Vague classic, L'année Dernière à Marienbad (1961), on her moodboard, which saw some of Coco's costumes lending gravitas to its protagonist, essayed by Delphine Seyrig. 

Drawing from this seminal cinematic piece, Viard proposed a closet of feathered tweeds, cardigan jackets and coat dresses. Finishing off these looks with white camellias, crystal booties, shine-on ankle socks and gilded necklaces, this outing was a bridge between the house's past and its present, sublimated with the spirit of easy chic. Plumes, a key signia of Chanel's core design vocabulary, couldn't be overlooked. Ostrich feathers artfully embroidered on tweed suits and romantic, floaty capes were a strong throwback to Coco's work in cinema, a time when her pieces empowered characters with sartorial drama and finesse.

Manish Mishra is a Delhi-based writer and content creator.

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