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Rumors About Alber Elbaz Replacing Karl Lagerfeld at Chanel Resurface

Last summer, rumors surfaced that Karl Lagerfeld did not renew his contract at Chanel and that Lanvin designer Alber Elbaz would take his place. Both Chanel and Lanvin quickly denied the rumor, but it came back over the weekend on grazia.com.au, which became alarmed after fashion blogger Tommy Ton tweeted he was sitting on some news that will “SHAKE the fashion world”:

We at grazia.com.au think we might know what this earth-shattering news might be — with rumours circulating that Karl Lagerfeld’s tenure at Chanel is coming to an end and none other than Alber Elbaz will be announced as his successor. There’s no doubt the talented Lanvin designer is more than capable of filling Big Karl’s CC-logoed shoes.


Grazia.com.au expects an announcement to come “very, very soon.” In July of last year Karl promised to “die with his boots on” and then said in November, “Retirement is not one of the topics with which I deal.” However impervious to human things such as physical ailments and death Karl may actually be, sources said in December that Chanel must be thinking about his retirement, because he is 76 and it would be foolish not to. The only reason they might not admit they are is to prevent their new designer from being poached by another house. Also, it’s better marketing-wise for people to know exactly where their $8,000 quilted bags are coming from. Furthermore, fashion labels love keeping secrets and getting to tell them first. So these rumors may not be confirmed, but perhaps there’s something to say for their repeat performance. Or perhaps Tommy Ton just got excited over a really — really — pretty new pair of shoes.

Karl Lagerfeld’s Chanel successor revealed? [Shoes with News/NineMSN]

Rumors About Alber Elbaz Replacing Karl Lagerfeld at Chanel Resurface