Designers Switching Houses & Moving to New Brands

[kingtheyskens]

Hold your horses as allegedly we're due for some new appointments much later in the year And before you ask, not where we already know about upcoming vacancies (i.e Balenciaga, etc). Might even include some familiar faces (from the past)... Everything feels very, erm, random these days.

i'm sensing a riccardo hint here...

 

[Salvatore]

Hold your horses as allegedly we're due for some new appointments much later in the year And before you ask, not where we already know about upcoming vacancies (i.e Balenciaga, etc). Might even include some familiar faces (from the past)... Everything feels very, erm, random these days.

More appointments and changes ? 😭 It's not ever going to end, is it ? I am so tired. I want to DM you so bad.

 

[Creative]

Hold your horses as allegedly we're due for some new appointments much later in the year And before you ask, not where we already know about upcoming vacancies (i.e Balenciaga, etc). Might even include some familiar faces (from the past)... Everything feels very, erm, random these days.

Is there any designer left with more than 1 year seniority at a brand?

Fendi, Chanel, Dior, Loewe, Versace, Balenciaga, Gucci, Givenchy, Valentino, Céline, Chloé… all have new CDs.

Only the lady at Hermes, the guy at Schiap and Pieter, right? And the first one aside, they don’t even have big positions.

Saint Laurent? They’d be (even more) crazy
Vuitton?

 

[perhydrol]

Fendi, Chanel, Dior, Loewe, Versace, Balenciaga, Gucci, Givenchy, Valentino, Céline, Chloé… all have new CDs.

+Mugler and Balmain, allegedly

 

[Creative]

Also Bottega, Jil Sander, Margiela and Tom Ford.

This is crazy

 

[kingtheyskens]

the industry is finally collapsing! thank god

 

[Avonlea]

I feel like all this fuss is just going to result in even more corporate fashion dictated by the suits.

 

[tourbillions]

what are the odds of tisci going to hermes? hmm then they could actually compete with louis vuitton

 

[Beun]

Well, I don't know about you but I am mostly happy with the flurry of recent (and upcoming) appointments. Blazy, Ackerman, Burton, Anderson, Copping, Martens and Klausner have experience, they know their craft, they respect clothes, they can construct a garment. Furthermore, they have their own taste, vision and culture, which will help them rejuvenating the brands under their respective stewardships. I know nothing about the new Jil Sander guy, but the Meier's exit is also good news, as is Demna's from Balenciaga - they might appoint someone with actual respect for the houses' increduble legacy. It feels to me that the trend of having untrained people appointed/lauded as CDs based on their pop culture appeal or on their looks seems to recede. The Demna-debacle at Gucci looks like an outlier to me, but I'm looking forward to hatewatching the meltdown

 

[Creative]

I feel like all this fuss is just going to result in even more corporate fashion dictated by the suits.

Gonna play the role of devil’s advocate here but I must say, from my experience, that some CD have total freedom yet they come up with the ugliest and most commercial sh!t.

I know very well the way of working of a certain British designer that was at an Italian house from Rome and also at a Parisian one doing menswear, another Italian designer that has been doing very boring collections at an iconic French house, another British designer doing wonders at a Spanish maison and a couple more than I can’t name, and they all had important creative freedom.

Some groups like Kering might be more pushy, but I think the creative downfall is not due JUST to the management side. There are some young new CEOs who are very supportive of the vision of their designers too.

In some cases it really has to do with the lack of vision and talent of the CD tbh. 🫣

 

[kingtheyskens]

it's almost always down to lack of talent. a truly talented designer can have a wondrous vision and will marry it with desirable, pragmatic merchandise. if the clothes suck, the designer sucks too. it's as simple as that

 

[Creative]

it's almost always down to lack of talent. a truly talented designer can have a wondrous vision and will marry it with desirable, pragmatic merchandise. if the clothes suck, the designer sucks too. it's as simple as that

Yes, I agree, and from my experience the people I’ve met in the management side (also from the worlds biggest luxury brands) respected talent and vision a lot… of course they have to do business, but they treated CD like gods and in some cases the CD would have an opinion even on the props of the store or in the VM… And I’m talking of very big CD in recent times.

I guess Kering might be different though.

That said, I can imagine some brands like Tods , Ferragamo, Burberry and so on being micromanaged in a poorly way.

 

[Avonlea]

Some groups like Kering might be more pushy, but I think the creative downfall is not due JUST to the management side.

Oh absolutely. The pushing from suits is one thing but the lack of talent and vision among the new generation of creatives is another issue.
Just seeing the current climate and where things are going I can't help but feel quite pessimistic about the future appointments.

 

[tourbillions]

im glad that the suits are slowly realizing that the current generation of designeres are a skip and they are going back to the good ones from before. And dont give me "so and so is not relevant anymore" because probably half of or more of your closet are probably still influenced by those those irrelevant designers. Usually fahion moves forward faster but here we are stuck in streetwear/oversized era. With hints of "quiet luxury" to save on manufacturing

 

[Creative]

im glad that the suits are slowly realizing that the current generation of designeres are a skip and they are going back to the good ones from before. And dont give me "so and so is not relevant anymore" because probably half of or more of your closet are probably still influenced by those those irrelevant designers. Usually fahion moves forward faster but here we are stuck in streetwear/oversized era. With hints of "quiet luxury" to save on manufacturing

that’s interesting… I don’t know, I think it has to do more with the fact that since the businesses are so big they prefer a designer with a successful story in his back, but that’s not a guarantee of a future success either: Valentino with AM is doing worse than with PPP, Fendi with Kim Jones was a total flop, Haider at TF is a quite MEH…

As I’ve said several times, some years ago the average designer had a 10 year prime. Now, for new ones, the prime is even more ephemeral. I feel like with old designers fashion doesn’t go forward… what Galliano did at Margiela was grey compared to what he did at Dior. What Ghesquière is doing at Vuitton is bad compared to his Balenciaga. What Pilati has done in recent times feels so irrelevant for today’s world… it’s maybe better to have a watered-down version of those designers than a SDS and the likes? Maybe.

And the old guard is still designing, only Theyskens, Pilati and Tisci are not, right? And now Hedi and Galliano too.

 

[tourbillions]

The new designers are just incapable of selling a dream. And it is apparent when almost all collections blend as one during the last few fashion weeks. Its been so bad that brands like cucinelli and loro piana who sells the most basic things suddenly became fashionable.

Atleast with galliano at margiela he gave us atleast one moment. It might be old fashioned for some but it sparked creativity to many new up and coming designers. And it started a conversation on doing things in a new way like the porcelain make up or bbl fashion.

The thing with old and proven designers is every season wont be a hit but they are capable of that one magical moment. Sometimes that's all thats needed. Just because they are old, doesnt mean they are incapable of doing something new. Looking into the future of clothing is already in them. Thats how they became successess

 

[Kanzai]

Can IG people stop nominating Pilati for Armani, his magic is long gone!

 

[Lola701]

Can IG people stop nominating Pilati for Armani, his magic is long gone!

He would actually be great for Armani.
He needs to remove that face tattoo and get some of his senses back but it’s not a ridiculous position.
His collection for Zara proved that he is still a bourgeois at heart.

Armani does need someone seasoned. But I wouldn’t be surprised if they choose someone internally.

 

[tourbillions]

Pilati will be perfect for armani. Armani doesnt need "magic" it needs someone with strong tailoring and can slowly move it forward

 

[PDFSD]

Gonna play the role of devil’s advocate here but I must say, from my experience, that some CD have total freedom yet they come up with the ugliest and most commercial sh!t.

I know very well the way of working of a certain British designer that was at an Italian house from Rome and also at a Parisian one doing menswear, another Italian designer that has been doing very boring collections at an iconic French house, another British designer doing wonders at a Spanish maison and a couple more than I can’t name, and they all had important creative freedom.

Some groups like Kering might be more pushy, but I think the creative downfall is not due JUST to the management side. There are some young new CEOs who are very supportive of the vision of their designers too.

In some cases it really has to do with the lack of vision and talent of the CD tbh. 🫣

1000000000 % agree

i try to say this many times the general wave of pointing at the suits as if they hold the pencil to design is largely a myth even if lots of management are not great but if an Cd can't come up with a great bag or fashion show or brand image its 99.9% to do with the CD´s own lack of vision or creativity from my experience especially when you have design teams to do anything for you like scout ideas etc and you still end up with not much.

regardless of pressure to be commercial or selling , having no point of view is the problem of many brands CD´s then sure there is the rest but thats details however important for the flow of the process for brands to sell or be a hype etc