Chanel Visual Merchandising Director

About Chanel

Chanel is one of the world’s most revered luxury houses, founded by Gabrielle Chanel and distinguished by an enduring vision of elegance, freedom, and modernity. As an employer, the House brings together métiers ranging from haute couture, fashion and leather goods to fragrance, beauty, watches, and fine jewelry, offering employees the opportunity to contribute to a legacy defined by exceptional craftsmanship and creative audacity. Chanel values excellence, discretion, collaboration, and long-term development, fostering an environment where talent is nurtured and heritage is continually reinterpreted for contemporary clients. Its teams are united by a commitment to quality, innovation, and the timeless spirit of the brand.

Role & Responsibilities

• Set the strategy, governance, execution standards and capability-development agenda for Fashion Visual Merchandising across Europe, balancing global creative direction with regional coherence, local relevance and operational feasibility.
• Represent CHANEL’s style and bridge the House’s artistic direction with retail teams’ needs to inspire local clients.
• Oversee the adaptation of global visual merchandising designs to local windows and commercial spaces, supervise window-design proposals and optimize commercial-space use.
• Ensure interpretations and modifications of initial concepts are communicated and reported to the Global Visual Merchandising office.
• Review the quality of window displays and merchandise presentation for each of the six fashion collections per year.
• Use local tastes, stock availability and performance data to maximize the commercial contribution of displays.
• Act as the primary communication channel between the Global Visual Merchandising office and country visual merchandisers, enabling two-way feedback on regional needs.
• Anticipate and address market needs while maintaining global consistency, developing adapted regional guidelines where relevant.
• Provide creative direction and technical assistance for boutique installations across the region.
• Equip markets with the knowledge and tools to meet visual merchandising standards, including structured onboarding for newly appointed local visual merchandisers and clear transmission of each collection’s creative intent, styling principles and execution standards.
• Build the community’s image and business acumen, connecting creative choices to the client journey and commercial performance.
• Participate in buying sessions to ensure boutiques receive product selections aligned with each collection’s image standards and studio vision.
• Oversee production of window décor, in-store propositions and other product-presentation elements, ensuring high quality and compliance with global guidelines.
• Develop event décor capabilities with Regional Marketing & Events, formalizing ways of working, lead times and cost frameworks for increasing requests.
• Respect each market’s budget while securing quality contractors, materials and suppliers at competitive prices, seeking multiple quotations for each installation.
• Supervise shipment procedures for décor and visual merchandising tools, create installation guidelines and oversee regional window-décor installations.
• Build long-term supplier and contractor partnerships in line with CHANEL’s values and Code of Conduct, advancing reuse, recycling and plastic-free materials in visual merchandising assets.
• Govern visual merchandising investments and budgets, allocating resources to initiatives with the greatest impact on image, client experience and business priorities.
• Establish a structured partnership with the Watches & Fine Jewellery Visual Merchandising team to create a coherent client journey and unified brand expression in Fashion boutiques.
• Align décor approaches, calendars, standards and budgets where pooling creates quality or efficiency gains.
• Work closely with Store Planning, Image, Product Merchandising and Architecture on new openings, renovations and Premium Boutique projects.
• Manage and develop the regional Visual Merchandising office team, setting its organization, priorities and standards and embedding capabilities such as learning and knowledge transmission.
• Lead local-market Visual Merchandising Managers through influence, clear standards, coaching and community engagement.
• Engage and energize regional visual merchandising teams, empowering them to continually elevate the client journey.
• Contribute to the Fashion Europe Management Committee’s collective leadership and strategic decisions.

Qualifications

• Significant experience in Visual Merchandising within luxury, fashion or premium retail, with regional or multi-market exposure.
• Proven experience across creative/design and production/décor scopes, including supplier and budget management.
• Experience leading teams and influencing a distributed community of local managers without direct reporting lines.
• Experience contributing to a leadership or management committee and operating at a strategic level.
• Exposure to event décor and an appetite for developing and transmitting expertise within a community.
• Fluent English required; French and/or an additional European language appreciated.
• Availability to travel frequently across Europe.

Skills

Experience

Typically 12+ years in Visual Merchandising within luxury, fashion or premium retail, including regional or multi-market exposure; experience across creative/design and production/décor scopes, team leadership, committee contribution, event décor and supplier and budget management.

Benefits

The role offers broad European scope, membership of the Fashion Europe Management Committee, leadership of an eight-person regional team and a Europe-wide Visual Merchandising Managers community, an inclusive culture focused on personal growth and collective progress, and resources, craftsmanship standards and supplier partnerships to support high-quality execution and sustainability initiatives.

Culture

Chanel fosters a culture of timeless creativity, exacting craftsmanship, and quiet excellence, where employees are encouraged to uphold the house’s heritage while contributing to its continued innovation. The workplace environment is refined, collaborative, and deeply committed to quality, offering professionals the opportunity to grow within a globally respected maison that values discretion, artistry, and long-term vision.

About Cerulean

Cerulean is the definitive career portal for the global luxury industry. We match exceptional professionals with exclusive opportunities at the world's most prestigious brands. From haute couture and fine watchmaking to prestige beauty, hospitality, and boutique retail, Cerulean centralises luxury employment to help you find the career for which you were destined.