Paris Couture Seeks New Blood as Business Booms

PARIS — As Paris prepares to hold its first haute couture week since the death of Karl Lagerfeld, brands large and small are vowing to keep the art form alive by drafting a new generation of craftspeople into their specialized workshops. All eyes will be on Virginie Viard, who succeeded Lagerfeld as artistic director of Chanel, when she presents her first solo couture collection for the house on Tuesday. Bruno Pavlovsky, president of fashion and president of Chanel SAS, noted that the 57-year-old designer was intimate with every facet of the couture process. Having joined Chanel as an intern in 1987, Viard was quickly put in charge of embroidery, working directly with Lesage. From the year 2000, she was director of the house’s creation studio, overseeing the development and production of all the haute couture, ready-to-wear and accessories collections. “This is really her comfort zone,” Pavlovsky told WWD. “Of course there’s a certain amount of stress, because it’s her collection and not Karl’s, but she is ready. Psychologically, physically and intellectually, she is fully focused on her collection.” Viard, who has given no interviews since Lagerfeld died, provided an insight into her creative process with her filmed testimony, broadcast as part of the “Karl For

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