Cerruti Names Knott Designer

[albertli1984]

from wwd.com


Friday, October 26, 2007
By Robert Murphy

PARIS — Cerruti has changed designers again.

The house, which has torn through David Cardona, Roberto Menichetti and Istvan Francer in its recent attempts to get on track, said Thursday it replaced Nicolas Andreas Taralis with Jean-Paul Knott, the Belgian who has worked for Louis Féraud, Krizia and Yves Saint Laurent.

 

[MulletProof]

fantastic news!. I've always admired Jean Paul Knott's work.. I'm so happy for him..

 

[tricotineacetat]

Knott was already there, designing Cerruti's more widely-distributed line, Cerruti 1881, for S/S 2008.

To say the least, it's a very rude tone to dump any designer after just one collection, in Taralis' case. It's a very tough undertaking to revive a dusty name like Cerruti's and to put new life into it, which is a very different undertaking than, let's say, Frida Giannini's appointment as creative director at Gucci after the Tom Ford / Alessandra Facchinetti era or cases like Paulo Melim Andersson at Chloé, where the label is already enjoying a market leader positioning.

By exchanging the creative directorship one more time, the house is surely left in questionable light, if they have the needed vision and ambition to revitalise it's operations and to get the 'name' of the house back on track.

 

[ilaughead]

^It is rude, but Taralis probably would have benefited if he toned his vision down a little for his first season.

 

[tricotineacetat]

I don't think it had a lot to do with his aesthetics or the collection he produced for SS'08. This is a company that is torn apart between a necessary renewal and keeping business as usual. Theirs is a declining market, ever since Nino Cerruti himself resigned and left the chair for all these other designers who have tried their hands at the house.

I went to see the show in Paris, and the presentation execution was flawless... but where were the important press, the important buyers to see it? In the end, it was die-hard Japanese fans and buyers sitting front row, next to Hannelore Knuts and Haider Ackermann.

 

[mass]

disappointing news. hopefully taralis revives his own line.

 

[Scott]

i'm torn. i really love jean paul and i am so happy he will be back on the map again but on the other hand i am terribly disgusted and disheartened with them for doing this to nicolas so soon. they didn't even give him any kind of a chance at all! and i dont think it had anything to do with aesthetics either....it just seems like they are just playing about with the line like tinkering with a child's toy and not really communicating this with their designer's. and it's certainly not proper business. i mean who does this after only a single season?! if i were jean paul i'd be cautious.

 

[softgrey]

do we know for sure that they dumped him?..
maybe he walked out?

or maybe knott is doing a good job and deserved the position more?...
he certainly has the experience and had earned such a position...

but it is a tough job for anyone to undertake...
i wish the best for jean-paul...

* i also wish i could lose 5 pounds so i could wear my jean-paul knott skirt because it is super cool!...
...


...

 

[Scott]

i doubt he walked. every designer they mentioned have all been defected after one or two seasons. and this has only been within the last year and a half too.

 

[Bidwell]

I have to agree with Tricotineacetat. One can't blame everything on a designer. There are obviously logistics, management, sales and PR that are involved in such a mass undertaking. Jean Paul Knott has already met this kind of ruthless treatment at Krizia some years back so perhaps he has experience in this department.
In any case, this always makes for a bad situation, built on lack of faith and a ridiculously fast turnaround. That is surely the most solid reason to go it alone in the fashion business as even the most solid of designers risk ruining what little reputation they work so hard to attain.

 

[ultramarine]

Didnt Armani started designing for Cerutti?

I mean if *he* could do it, being his clothes SO boring .... the list of designers who have been thru the revolving door called Cerutti can def do the same!

Go! You can do it!

PS Congrats, Jean Paul!

 

[albertli1984]

I want to know, Cerruti's second line "18CRR81 CERRUTI" also designed by Knott ?

 

[albertli1984]

Why don't see any information about his first Cerruti menswear show ?

Does anyone can provide it ?