Hedi Slimane Won't Be Going To Chanel Any Time Soon

Style On The Dot

May 24

With her bosses praising her profusely and publicly, Virginie Viard looks to be staying put

It is now certain Chanel will keep Virginie Viard for at least a while. The rumours that Hedi Slimane would decamp Celine to Chanel is just that: hearsay and, for many, hopefulness. Following supposed re-contract woes, it was thought that Mr Slimane might be snapped up by the brand with the interlocking Cs. However, in a recent WWD report, Ms Viard was highly praised by her bosses, who considered her instrumental in Chanel's burgeoning business, squashing the speculations that someone else might take over her role. According to WWD, the maison reported an enviable revenue of US$19 billion last year, a 16 percent increase from the previous. All categories similarly enjoyed double-digit growth. This, despite continual price increases (sometimes, more than once a year) to the chagrin of shoppers since the pandemic lockdowns were lifted.

That Chanel handbags continue to rake in profits is understandable. But more curious is that ready-to-wear did well, too. Apparently, with Virginie Viard at the helm, the RTW business "multiplied by 2.5" and expanded by 23 percent last year. No matter how unfortunate her designs have appeared to us since her first RTW collection in 2019, they are staggeringly popular, it seems. Chanel's global CEO Leena Nair was unabashed about Ms Viard's greatness. She enthused to WWD: "Virginie is an inspiring woman very successfully creating for women everywhere, and the feedback of clients—the comfort, the silhouette, the fit—it's really positive, it's landing really well." The comfort, probable. The silhouette and the fit? It is hard to discern, even on the runway. To understand their success, one has to acknowledge the target audience—"women everywhere". Ms Nair was really saying every woman. Fashion for all has landed.

No matter how unfortunate her designs have appeared to us since her first RTW collection in 2019, they are staggeringly popular, it seems

To entice or get to "women everywhere", Chanel uses actresses everywhere. The brand is happy to constantly employ film stars to wear their clothes, at film premieres or on red carpets. A look at the recent Cannes Film Festival and its attendant activities: Many guests wore Chanel, and flattering, sadly, was not always the adjective to use on the wearers. Consider, for example, the pink thing that French actress Alma Jodorowsky wore—haute couture, no less. It could easily be mistaken for Shein. There is still the believe that screen personalities look better on red carpets than professional models on runways. But very few actresses traipse red-carpet events with style that can be described as innate or truly striking. They are dependent on stylists (who live their fashionable lives vicariously through their clients) or brands that more likely than not dictate what the sponsored stars wear. These women are mannequins no different from those you see in Chanel store windows.

It should be considered that Chanel's present-day success is largely due to the foundational robustness that Karl Lagerfeld left behind, a bedrock that benefitted Ms Viard, enormously. She was Mr Lagerfeld's right-hand till he died in 2019. So, as many had thought then, she deserved the opportunity to take over the top job. But she has not shown that she has, for a lack of a better phrase, elevated Chanel. Or introduce even a smidgen of excitement to the clothes. It's been a continuous thread of infinite dullness, compounded by the unbelievably dumpy. Even Gigi Hadid and Kaia Gerber on the maison's runway could not escape looking like their were attending a country fair somewhere in rural Missouri. Yet, we are to believe that women everywhere love Chanel RTW. Following Mr Lagerfeld's death, Bernard Arnault, who does not own Chanel, said in a statement: "We have lost a creative genius who helped to make Paris the fashion capital of the world.'" It'd be interesting to know if he feels the same about Virginie Viard.

File photo: Chin Boh Kay for SOTD