Designers Switching Houses & Moving to New Brands

[Lola701]

Can't they promote internally? Are there still people who worked at Lanvin under Elbaz or are they all gone? We don't need other hypebeat collections

They can’t they just don’t want to.
The strategy of every suits at the head of a smaller group than LVMH/KERING: Copy Bernard Arnault!

The problem is that they forget they don’t have the same budget and the same prestige in terms of brands.

There’s a reason why the guy put Virgil and Pharrell as heads of MENSWEAR of the biggest brand of the group. The guy is not stupid. He knows menswear is a growing category but that category doesn’t expect the same level of involvement as womenswear…

But more than that, he knows that the credibility and the aura of Vuitton will not decrease.

There’s a reason why they are keeping Nicolas even if he is making less noise than Pharrell, there’s a reason why you have a JWA, MGC, Hedi Slimane. Those talents are designers but they totally understand the business of fashion. They lead!
Those people can turn businesses around with a cast of celebrities, a choir and a star-studded event.

The irony is that Arnault take a bit from everybody from Chanel to Hermes to elevate his own brands.

What kills me is that they can have talents that have a pulse on culture and still maintain the prestige of those brands. Martine Rose is there. Her name has been thrown around for years, hire her! You are guarantee that rappers will be all over her work too.

It’s annoying because it feels like fashion people now have competition from celebrities in every field. A Law Roach will be preferred instead of a stylist, a Future will be preferred instead of a designer, soon they will hire celebrities as head of content for magazines.
The irony is that before, every celebrities were coming to get recognition, then they wanted to be spokesperson with a beauty contract, then it was brand ambassador and now, they are taking the jobs of designers.

 

[yslforever]

I'm super dumb, it took me so long to realize "Future" is an actual (stage) name and not a typo or a weird phrasing. Great for letting me know I can pass Lanvin too.

 

[Drusilla_]

Can't they promote internally? Are there still people who worked at Lanvin under Elbaz or are they all gone? We don't need other hypebeat collections

someone please tell the Lanvin suits that hypebeastism is dead

and - Future? is this a joke. this is not Lanvin Vuitton

I expect Alber-era Lanvin to be affordable at resale for a bit longer because of these kind of clown decisions (just scored a Spring 2009 jacket from Look 40, for £50 on ebay) but I don't like it coming at the cost of them pissing away the legacy and goodwill he built for the brand.

 

[tourbillions]

they should just sell lanvin's name in uae so they could start selling t shirts with lanvin in every single mall, similar to balmain. They probably could re-sell lanvins famous sneakers too.

 

[LadyJunon]

This whole thing just makes me feel really bad for Sialelli. They really f*cked him over with this. I hope he gets a house like Chloé or Fendi.

 

[Tchi]

One can only dream

 

[Tchi]

Chloé Taps Former Saint Laurent Deputy Amid Potential Designer Shakeup

Richemont made the right move to put the last nail on the coffin.

 

[perhydrol]

^In the coffin of Gabi's tenure. Kamali worked for three years at Chloé before joining Saint Laurent. She also designed the Lanvin F/W 2016 collection. I guess it's a safe move for Richemont to hire her and push the brand back into a more lush direction.

 

[LadyJunon]

Chloé Taps Former Saint Laurent Deputy Amid Potential Designer Shakeup

Richemont made the right move to put the last nail on the coffin.

Full article:

LUXURY

Chloé Taps Former Saint Laurent Deputy Amid Potential Designer Shakeup

Anthony Vaccarello’s former design director Chemena Kamali is leading a parallel studio at Chloé, with Gabriela Hearst’s future at the Richemont-owned brand unclear, sources said.

By ROBERT WILLIAMS

26 June 2023

BoF PROFESSIONAL

PARIS — Chloé has hired Chemena Kamali to lead a parallel design studio as creative director Gabriela Hearst is expected to exit the Paris-based brand, market sources said.

Kamali, who was previously design director for women’s ready-to-wear at Saint Laurent under Anthony Vaccarello, is designing products for Chloé's pipeline as next steps for the brand after Hearst’s September show remain unclear.

Hearst, who joined Richemont-owned Chloé in late 2020, had previously enjoyed the support of the Swiss group’s chairman, Johann Rupert, but tensions have mounted as Chloé's business struggled to keep up with rivals during a post-pandemic surge for many luxury brands. Under Hearst, Chloé has enjoyed momentum selling logo totes, rubber rainboots and knit sneakers, but increasingly struggled to sell the $2,000-plus leather bags that used to anchor its business, according to market sources. (Richemont does not break out sales for individual brands).

On the runway, Hearst’s collections resonated most when taking a craft-inflected bent, including a collaboration with Alabama’s Gee’s Bend quilters for fall-winter 2022. Natural fibres worked into intricate braided, embroidered and fringed pieces aligned with the designer’s environmentally-friendly, socially-responsible message, but often pushed up prices in stores beyond what the brand’s consumer clout could support at scale.

Several sources familiar with the matter said they anticipate Hearst’s September show will be her last.

At a June meeting with staff, however, Chloé CEO Riccardo Bellini insisted no final decision had been taken on Hearst’s future with the brand, though the chief executive confirmed to teams the existence of the parallel studio.

Whether Kamali has been tapped as a consultant or is being onboarded for a long-term role remains unconfirmed. Kamali held an instrumental role supporting Vaccarello during a historic expansion of Kering’s Saint Laurent brand starting in 2016. After initially maintaining momentum by mostly sticking to former designer Hedi Slimane’s template of black-and-white branding and ultra-archival styling, a spate of cinematic, colourful collections with a reinforced daywear offer allowed Vacarello to make his mark on the brand and drive increased fashion buzz.

Kamali joined American label Frame earlier this year with a mission to sharpen the brand’s fashion image. But sources say Kamali and associates quickly returned to Paris to pursue another opportunity.

A Chloé spokesperson declined to comment.

Additional reporting by Vikram Alexei Kansara

Summary:
• Chemena Kamali has been hired to direct a parallel studio for Chloé alongside Hearst's studio.
• Kamali was Saint Laurent's former womenswear design director and was responsible for the gradual shift from Hedi's vision to Vaccarello's vision.
• While Hearst's sustainability initiatives helped push the lower-tier products, sales on higher priced items like leather goods, and possibly the ready-to-wear suffered.
• This is because the use of natural fabrics and craft-based production methods drove the prices beyond Chloé's perceived value.
• It is rumoured that the show in September for Spring'24 will be Hearst's last collection for Chloé.

 

[Deleted member 7575]

Future is only doing a capsule.

The press release was poorly worded.

Lanvin is still searching for a creative director.

 

[Lax89]

They can’t they just don’t want to.
The strategy of every suits at the head of a smaller group than LVMH/KERING: Copy Bernard Arnault!

The problem is that they forget they don’t have the same budget and the same prestige in terms of brands.

There’s a reason why the guy put Virgil and Pharrell as heads of MENSWEAR of the biggest brand of the group. The guy is not stupid. He knows menswear is a growing category but that category doesn’t expect the same level of involvement as womenswear…

But more than that, he knows that the credibility and the aura of Vuitton will not decrease.

There’s a reason why they are keeping Nicolas even if he is making less noise than Pharrell, there’s a reason why you have a JWA, MGC, Hedi Slimane. Those talents are designers but they totally understand the business of fashion. They lead!
Those people can turn businesses around with a cast of celebrities, a choir and a star-studded event.

The irony is that Arnault take a bit from everybody from Chanel to Hermes to elevate his own brands.

What kills me is that they can have talents that have a pulse on culture and still maintain the prestige of those brands. Martine Rose is there. Her name has been thrown around for years, hire her! You are guarantee that rappers will be all over her work too.

It’s annoying because it feels like fashion people now have competition from celebrities in every field. A Law Roach will be preferred instead of a stylist, a Future will be preferred instead of a designer, soon they will hire celebrities as head of content for magazines.
The irony is that before, every celebrities were coming to get recognition, then they wanted to be spokesperson with a beauty contract, then it was brand ambassador and now, they are taking the jobs of designers.

Thank you for your insights. Lanvin is definitely not at the level of LVMH or Kering, in terms of budget or recognition. It is sad how fashion is heading. They only live through celebrities. And funny enough, people actually get tired of them.

 

[vogue28]

Walter Chiapponi rumoured to be leaving Tod’s:

 

[Lola701]

It would be a pity because under him, Tod’s has been very much talked about than before…If he leaves for another small name, what’s the point?
Hire Frida Giannini and it’s a done deal at this point.

 

[Avonlea]

Hire Frida Giannini and it’s a done deal at this point.

I wonder If any house offered her a position after the Gucci tenure. It has been nearly 10 years.

 

[Lola701]

I wonder If any house offered her a position after the Gucci tenure. It has been nearly 10 years.

Stefano didn’t had a lot of offers after and given the way she left, I don’t know if she had that many…But it’s also the fact that being the CD of such a big brand, it can be hard to imagine yourself at a « less prestigious » brand and lower you standards a little bit.

‘I can’t imagine that she is not consulting somewhere…

But I really think that brands like Tod’s, Ferragamo or others can be perfect for her.

 

[Deleted member 7575]

Stefano didn’t had a lot of offers after and given the way she left, I don’t know if she had that many…But it’s also the fact that being the CD of such a big brand, it can be hard to imagine yourself at a « less prestigious » brand and lower you standards a little bit.

‘I can’t imagine that she is not consulting somewhere…

But I really think that brands like Tod’s, Ferragamo or others can be perfect for her.

It's not about prestige, it's about pay cuts.

Few brands can afford the huge multi-million dollar salaries these CDs received.

 

[Lola701]

It's not about prestige, it's about pay cuts.

Few brands can afford the huge multi-million dollar salaries these CDs received.

The two kinda goes hand-in-hand nowadays…
It reminds me of a discussion I had with one designer one time who became CD in Italy and then just became part of a studio of a big house in Paris. He told me how from his position he realized how many people weren’t necessarily at ease with « downgrading » (it’s not really the right word).

It’s quite funny to me to mention so often Frida considering that I really did not liked what she did at Gucci…

 

[MulletProof]

(it’s not really the right word).

But it is though lol, let's call it for what it is, and it makes total sense.. I think it's partly money but yeah, pride/prestige.. you want to be in a progressively responsible path, not go up and down hierarchically. If you look at what they're worth given what they were paid and what they generated, I don't see why not wait it out and focus on investments, invest in some restaurant, art, startups, who knows, just don't pop up next as the person who used to report to one but is now reporting to 4 including the people who used to report to you, I'd rather die, seriously . But.. also, maybe don't wait long enough so that they think of you and automatically feel nostalgic about 2010 (coughpilati).

 

[Lola701]

But it is though lol, let's call it for what it is, and it makes total sense.. I think it's partly money but yeah, pride/prestige.. you want to be in a progressively responsible path, not go up and down hierarchically. If you look at what they're worth given what they were paid and what they generated, I don't see why not wait it out and focus on investments, invest in some restaurant, art, startups, who knows, just don't pop up next as the person who used to report to one but is now reporting to 4 including the people who used to report to you, I'd rather die, seriously . But.. also, maybe don't wait long enough so that they think of you and automatically feel nostalgic about 2010 (coughpilati).

But Stefano’s case was different…
He was pretty open about the fact that despite Zegna (with whom they build relationships when he was still working under Tom), nobody called. When you have the reputation of being « difficult » and when let’s say, you are someone who thinks that highly of yourself, I don’t think people gravitâtes towards you that much.

When I think about that, nobody has emerged from his studio really.

I must say that Stefano had the most spectacular rebranding I have ever seen in fashion… From being the epitome of bourgeoisie, living near l’Elysee, surrounding yourself with pseudo intellectualism, going to Le Baron to hanging out with the Berlin crowd, having face tattoos is something else.

I find his path rather pathetic tbh because he looks like gimmick instead of a meaningful voice in fashion.

But I find something noble in maybe going on your own, doing something exclusive, smaller, that speaks to you or a niche after having a big big job, made millions and relationships.

‘I often think about that when thinking about Nicolas Ghesquiere. For me if he goes higher, it has to be a Couture house…preferably Chanel, or flip the script and do like Hermes but then do something more personal. It’s the elegant way in a way…

 

[Phuel]

^^^ You both bring up a potent point of a designer’s professional life that’s always been one my mind: How to continue on when your moment is gone.

I’ve always found talents like Ghesquier's and Hedi’s would be even greater had they built their own houses; Their names alone would look so good on a label... These last several years, I’ve developed a repulsion for fabled houses and their storied brands, and no longer covet them the way I once did. Of course, their legacy will always remain stedfast and unshakable, but if a once-adored brand like Prada were to disappear forever from the fashionscape, I wouldn’t blink a lash. Helmut Lang gave me that reassurance that life will go on long after a brand has died LOL

Someone like Stefano is an interesting case: He seemed to have delved deeper and deeper into conceptual design as he worked for other brands post-YSL. I had no idea he was a difficult individual to work with (which just makes him more unattractive to me since it’s only fashion sheesh), to this point in his professional life that Random Identtities is just that— random… stuff. I wouldn’t wear it if I were offer it for free. But that’s his creative life a this point in time. And I’m just not interested in his offerings anymore. Same with Lucas Ossendrijver: HIs Lanvin was a main staple and inspiration of my wardrobe in the late-2000s. But his current Theory offering is the stuff of fashion depression for me. Both designers seemed to have had their days in the sun.

And that’s just the way that fashion goes. (Don’t care for designers’ personal life. However, I’m glad none are in the same place as someone like Claude Montana. His is just such a sad cautionary tale of excess and waste.)