💯 Would also love to see Viard’s work would look like for another house. She may be a visionary, or maybe not. But I don’t think Chanel was the place for her to spread her wings and show any true vision because the higher ups probably wanted to keep things status quo, at least got the interim. Regardless, it’s exciting to think about who will land there next. My money’s on Hedi but I would love to see Marc Jacobs take the reins.
I loved Horyn's piece on Chanel. But I also hate that everyone has been crapping on Viard's collections. It's not that she's not talented, as she certainly is. The bottom line is that we don't know what was happening behind the scenes. It's quite possible that her hands were tied, and she was *prevented* from taking risks. And ultimately, her collections did very well for the brand's bottom line.
I would be curious to see what Viard's work would look like somewhere else. It's hard to parse her aesthetic from Chanel's brand identity, but that isn't surprising given the 3 decades she spent there. Since Lagerfeld was such a mentor to her, their vision for the house was always going to feel similar, and I wonder if some of that symbiosis gets misinterpreted as a lack of risk taking. I imagine following Karl as AD was going to be tough for anyone, and the brand knew that. Viard was the closest thing to him, so it was almost a nonchoice. That is why I think whoever Chanel brings in now will give a lot of insight into direction the brand is looking to go.
💯 Would also love to see Viard’s work would look like for another house. She may be a visionary, or maybe not. But I don’t think Chanel was the place for her to spread her wings and show any true vision because the higher ups probably wanted to keep things status quo, at least got the interim. Regardless, it’s exciting to think about who will land there next. My money’s on Hedi but I would love to see Marc Jacobs take the reins.
I loved Horyn's piece on Chanel. But I also hate that everyone has been crapping on Viard's collections. It's not that she's not talented, as she certainly is. The bottom line is that we don't know what was happening behind the scenes. It's quite possible that her hands were tied, and she was *prevented* from taking risks. And ultimately, her collections did very well for the brand's bottom line.
I would be curious to see what Viard's work would look like somewhere else. It's hard to parse her aesthetic from Chanel's brand identity, but that isn't surprising given the 3 decades she spent there. Since Lagerfeld was such a mentor to her, their vision for the house was always going to feel similar, and I wonder if some of that symbiosis gets misinterpreted as a lack of risk taking. I imagine following Karl as AD was going to be tough for anyone, and the brand knew that. Viard was the closest thing to him, so it was almost a nonchoice. That is why I think whoever Chanel brings in now will give a lot of insight into direction the brand is looking to go.