The everlasting hunt for a new creative director at Chanel may finally be ending, according to a new report from WWD. On Friday, the outlet's sources revealed that the legacy French fashion house plans on announcing Virginie Viard's successor in mid-December — and that many signs are pointing to Matthieu Blazy for the role.
The Paris-born designer — responsible for transforming Bottega Veneta into one of the sought-after labels in Milan (raking in €836 million EUR in revenue in the first half of this year, up 3% on a comparable basis to the same period last year) — has "emerged as a new contender" for Chanel's top seat, the same sources said. Bottega Veneta has reportedly already started looking for Blazy's replacement, gauging interest from its second-in-line designers. Chanel, Blazy and Bottega-owner Kering have not offered comments on the news.
The rumor mill has worked overtime on the matter of Chanel's creative directorship ever since Virginie Viard departed from the label's helm in June. Previous whispers suggested that John Galliano might take the role; however, since a prominent Jewish family owns the brand, Galliano’s antisemitic past could stifle those conversations. Other common theories said that Hedi Slimane, Jeremy Scott, Sarah Burton or Marc Jacobs could take Chanel's reigns, and WWD's sources claim that the House has interviewed Pieter Mulier, Pierpaolo Piccioli, Jacobs and Scott for the job.
Blazy is a newer name in the mix, but the designer, who attended Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Visuels de La Cambre in Brussels, certainly boasts a strong resume for the position. He began his career as a men's designer for Raf Simons in 2007, and he later became a head designer at Maison Margiela, where his prominent collections earned him the title of "the most famous designer you've never heard of," prior to Galliano's stint at the House. In 2014, he began working under Phoebe Philo at Céline, and he later returned to working with Simons at Calvin Klein from 2016 to 2019. In November 2021, Blazy became Bottega Veneta's creative director.
There's no saying if his next stop will be Chanel just yet, but stay tuned for updates on the matter as they become available.
Click here to view full gallery at Hypebeast
