Clare Waight Keller - Designer, Creative Director of Uniqlo

[Lola701]

I feel bad for her because it’s really the best period to lose your job now...
But it was expected. Her Givenchy never took off and is still depending on Riccardo’s aesthetic. It was a matter of time...
She was the last alumni of Tom Ford to be at helm of a fashion house. Maybe she should go to LA and be a design director for him...

 

[helmutnotdead]

Oh! After that glorious show...

Wish her the best. Clare's not the most consistent designer out there but she has -undeniably- talent and skills to work with.

This makes me think how done I am with fashion industry. Lord, everything is so sad.

 

[kenndale]

I feel for her. She’s definitely talented and I enjoyed most of her work. If they wanted to keep the momentum of Riccardo’s Givenchy they picked the wrong person.

I hope she lands on her feet at a brand where she can thrive.

 

[dodencebt]

Totally expected, but I do feel for her for losing her job during this pandemic since I know how it feels. I hope she lands a job that's more suited to her design style because I think she's a great designer; it just wasn't a good fit for Givenchy after Riccardo's tenure.

 

[GivenchyAddict]

Ok, so let's move on. I was tired since day one of her Givenchy. Will never gorget Ariavenchy or whatever the hashtag was.

 

[aracic]

And I just started admiring her vision for Givenchy after that last collection... pity. There are far worse designers out there who deserve to be sacked.

 

[GreyVetiver]

I find it appalling that she’s left Givenchy while MGC is still at Dior giving us trash every season.

I loved her last fall RTW collection and was really hoping that she has found her vision and can finally take off the brand again. I’ll miss her couture shows...

 

[bc collector]

Totally expected, but I do feel for her for losing her job during this pandemic since I know how it feels.

The timing is bad but it just coincides with the end of her contract, nothing more nothing less.
I have very mixed feelings towards CWK's tenure at Givenchy, mostly because, especially in the RTW collections, she flipped her aesthetics too often from one season to the next, and it did not seem like she really knew what she was doing. But over the last few seasons, both in HC and RTW, I saw coming into her own and giving the clothes a very modern, polished parisian allure, which is ultimately what the brand stood for.

It should be said, though, that the heritage of the house of Givenchy is much feebler than its major counterparts. Few people, even within the fashion industry, really know what the brand stands for, apart from the myth of Audrey Hepburn.
Even Lee McQueen had a hard time giving label a new identity, and that says it all. As for Riccardo's tenure, which people here miss a lot, well, that was 90% Riccardo 10% Hubert stuff. And the fact that the memory of Riccardo's work still lingers so heavily on the brand is more of a doom than a blessing at this point.

 

[helmutnotdead]

her replacement is a joke.

wish them the worse.

 

[Benn98]

Ok, so let's move on. I was tired since day one of her Givenchy. Will never gorget Ariavenchy or whatever the hashtag was.

Right! Ain't got no tears left to cry......
I'm just relieved she's gone now because she just didn't seem like a great fit for this brand to me. And then there was this huge disconnect between the clothes and the runway presentation, the clothes and the campaigns, the clothes and the spokesperson she selected. I had strong feelings about Natacha as well but she very quickly tied her collections together and made the entire messaging from runway to end-user more cohesive.

Still, Clare was worth every penny she got from Givenchy, you can't say she didn't put in the work. This wasn't an Alexander Wang a Balenciaga situation. She brought in a new customer with her sensibility, there was the Meghan Markle wedding dress which was a great marketing effort for the brand, and I think her menswear was just starting to pick up steam. And because of all this, her individual highly feminist profile surpassed that of Givenchy to the point that I would almost speculate that it made the suits feel uncomfortable because along with that would come power. She is and will be fine. She can now walk into any house and make demands and they would kowtow because of what her name represents. *Cough* Chanel *Chanel*

 

[Avonlea]

Yay one gone. Now its time for Viard and MGC.

 

[vogue28]

Clare Waight Keller became one of my favourite designers while at Givenchy, and can genuinely say that I let out a huge sigh upon reading the exit news earlier today.

I’m disappointed, thought Clare done a wonderful job at Givenchy and replicated some archival looks with an effortless ease - ultimately doing Hubert justice. I always found both Keller’s RTW and couture collections to be sophisticated, refined and extremely elegant.

I can, however, admit that Clare’s advertising campaigns never done it for me (like Ariana Grande and the random Marc Jacobs and Charlotte Rampling pairing). Even the early Meisel campaigns never quite hit the spot for me.

 

[Lola701]

The rumors are that the guy from Alyx has been approached to follow what is going on at Vuitton and Dior.
Maybe they might split the creative direction again.

It should be said, though, that the heritage of the house of Givenchy is much feebler than its major counterparts. Few people, even within the fashion industry, really know what the brand stands for, apart from the myth of Audrey Hepburn.
Even Lee McQueen had a hard time giving label a new identity, and that says it all. As for Riccardo's tenure, which people here miss a lot, well, that was 90% Riccardo 10% Hubert stuff. And the fact that the memory of Riccardo's work still lingers so heavily on the brand is more of a doom than a blessing at this point.

But being at the helm of a fashion and continuing the legacy of the designer is not mimicking his style but understanding his aesthetic. I don’t believe in « respect » but in keeping the essence of the brand...

Riccardo understood two things about Givenchy: the aristocratic background of Hubert but also the separates and the ease of his fashion. McQueen and Galliano never got that. There was something almost pragmatic in the chic of Givenchy that they never got...
And Riccardo got the commercial success before the respect of the press.
Alber, Karl, Nicolas, Karl, John, Phoebe, Hedi gave 90% of themselves.
Even Clare at Chloe changed a lot of things. Her Chloe was more urban!

If I was at LVMH, I would have hired the entire Margiela team pre-Galliano for Givenchy. Because Mathieu Blazy and whoever handled the menswear were very great!

 

[GivenchyAddict]

I want Haider Ackermann. He will elevate Givenchy like never before, will be able to follow the dark aesthetic that Riccardo built at Givenchy and people still have in mind.

He can do ww, mw and couture. But as LVMH executives are dumb, they will hire Matthew Williams to get some sneakers, t shirts back in stores with Lotta Volkova as consultant.

 

[Mathewthew]

I feel sorry for her. I really enjoy her Chloe collection, I think she loss the feminine and pret a porter touch when she come to Givenchy, her Givenchy is too serious and restrict. The collection is completely different from the money making items of Riccardo, it’s very hard and stressful to follow the commercial success of Ricardo and I’m sure LVMH wants the Riccardo’s miracle back. We can see the first few Ricardo’s Givenchy collection is completely different from his most profitable collection. It’s sad there’s no place for Clare’s Givenchy in the market now and they will kick you out when you can’t make money for them.

 

[Lola701]

^^
That’s the reality of the business unfortunately. She had 3 years and 19 collections to install her vision!
I believe in giving time to designers but 3 years and 19 collections are enough to give an idea of what your work will be and create a small impulse in sales.
Her last 3 runway RTW collections spoke to 3 different audiences.

Even if the hate for MGC’s work is widely shared, nobody can say that she is not consistent. Clare is talented but you need a frame to engage people in your journey.

 

[fashionista-ta]

Clare Waight Keller became one of my favourite designers while at Givenchy, and can genuinely say that I let out a huge sigh upon reading the exit news earlier today.

I’m disappointed, thought Clare done a wonderful job at Givenchy and replicated some archival looks with an effortless ease - ultimately doing Hubert justice. I always found both Keller’s RTW and couture collections to be sophisticated, refined and extremely elegant.

I can, however, admit that Clare’s advertising campaigns never done it for me (like Ariana Grande and the random Marc Jacobs and Charlotte Rampling pairing). Even the early Meisel campaigns never quite hit the spot for me.

Thank you, next, is that what you're saying?

 

[bc collector]

Alber, Karl, Nicolas, Karl, John, Phoebe, Hedi gave 90% of themselves

Lola,

they probably did, but the houses they worked for have different weights on the collective memory, so that in the end they had to fill in where such memory was poor or non-existent (as was the case for Phoebe's Celine). A tweed suit or a sack dress are symbols of Chanel or Balenciaga respectively, regardless of who designs them.

The house of Givenchy never had such strong codes to begin with (the little black dress, peut etre?: I almost hear Mademoiselle turning in her grave at the sound of that you say that Hubert gave ease to his designs...that sounds hardly a defining feature for a fashion house, dozens of other designers did that as well.

As for Riccardo's work, I liked what he did but the link to the founder's work was almost air-thin at times, his goth-romantic aesthetic completely took over almost to the point that Hubert's figure disappeared in the background.

The question at the very bottom of this thread, I think, is how much the house of Givenchy (like others - and regardless of the obvious marketing reasons behind that) deserved to be carried over to the twenty-first century without any clear and distinctive message to say.

 

[Lola701]

^^
Givenchy got the blouse if we want. The Bettina blouse and the little black dress. You can build a vocabulary on that.

The reality of Givenchy (and maybe Celine) is that you can’t re-write the story each time a new creative director comes. And that’s maybe what LVMH needs to understand.

That’s why the people at Kering were clever. Instead of having another story at YSL, they continued Hedi’s story with someone who can also add layers of the predecessors.

Balenciaga is still more or less about a certain idea of Streetwear Couture that was installed by Nicolas and Gucci still has that 70’s flair.

Because selling branded mercy and Antigona bags is not healthy for the brand. You can’t have such a short term vision for big brands like that.

 

[HeatherAnne]

Mistake by Givenchy, they'll be as forgettable as Lanvin and Dior are right now. She classed up the house after Riccardo and his Kardashian associations.

Chicness in fashion is dead, particularly once Phoebe left the game. It's all about what appeals to the idiots of social media. I barely have an interest in fashion anymore, this might have been my nail in the coffin.

And let it be known I'm not a super fan, I hated her banal work at Chloe. But she was wonderful at Givenchy.