Discussion: Who Should Be The Creative Director of Chanel?

[blueorchid]

With all due respect, I hope you guys don't roll me over the coals for saying this. I would love to see John Galliano at Chanel since he just left Maison Margiela. I feel there is a solid reason for him not renewing his contract with them. I do feel he might be the one at Chanel and they are keeping it quiet at the moment as it needs to be handled delicately. If not him, I could see Pierpaolo Piccioli there. Both designers are stellar and understand how to carry on a brand with a lot of history.

I just can't square how anything about Galliano would make any sense at Chanel. They're like diametrically opposite.

 

[tboy34]

I just can't square how anything about Galliano would make any sense at Chanel. They're like diametrically opposite.

Yes they have different esthetics but I feel that he like Karl understands the DNA of the house.

 

[blueorchid]

Yes they have different esthetics but I feel that he like Karl understands the DNA of the house.

He might understand the DNA, but could he design for that DNA? Could he restrain himself and do Chanel?

 

[Lola701]

^ Fair enough, I kind of agree too, even if I adore him. I think he is more of a product and image designer.

And I can get why the Wertheirmers/Bruno don’t want him. He has been in 3 maisons and the store layout has been kind of the same, with little changes. The clothing has been pretty simple even if very desirable. It’s true that maybe Chanel, with so many collections per year, needs a little bit more fun…

I also think it could get old very quickly, like YSL by Vaccarello, because it’s the same all the time. I heard corporate people working at Kering complaining about the monotones and the same products being offered to the clients. With Celine I’m afraid that it’s kind of the same now.

Tbh, as much as I’m dubitative about Jacquemus, I like his vision of strong confident women and men. He is limited in his design language but his vision is inviting.

Hedi’s Celine has the merit of being the mix of everything. It’s a bit Chanel, a bit Vuitton, a bit bourgeois. It’s not imaginative but it’s a valeur sure in a way.
I’m not a fan of logos for example but I don’t mind monogram sometimes. Funny enough, I hate Fendi and Gucci monogram and Goyard is not the same quality as Vuitton. Except for Vuitton, Celine is the only house I look into for that kind of products.

Hedi’s sense of merchandising is so good that it’s really easy to make his products « essentials ». You want a good peacoat, Hedi is your guy.

But I would say that my opinion is purely the one of a customer. I stopped buying Chanel when Virginie took over, much like I stopped buying Fendi when Kim Jones took over. I have tried some her stuff and I didn’t liked the shoulders or the cut of the jackets compared to Karl. I don’t buy that much Hedi’s stuff anyway even if he has good stuff and I bought some stuff from his Saint Laurent too.

But if we talk about that idea of basics or essentials a la The Row and others, I would rather spend my money at Celine.

I don’t know, I’m much more excited by the unknown than the perspective of a Deja vu. Even if it’s Jacquemus, I can reassure myself with thinking that he will challenge himself because he would have to prove himself.

Hedi is not going to Chanel anyway. I don’t know why we keep adding him up in the discussion. The last Celine collection is already what a Chanel or Givenchy collection may look like under him. So people who are so in love with it may just buy it.

As much as I’m not with Jacquemus taking over Chanel, I can totally understand why Bruno Pavlovsky would want him.

 

[tourbillions]

I don't know why no one brings up Sarah Burton's name.

EDIT: I know she's retired now, but she'd be a perfect match, in my opinión.



knowyourmeme

since when was she retired? last time i read shes going to givenchy...

 

[Lola701]

Yes they have different esthetics but I feel that he like Karl understands the DNA of the house.

Karl is more Chanel and Galliano is more Poiret.
Galliano may fool us with some 1930’s la garçonne looks but his old ways and idea of feminity is maybe too far opposite to Chanel.

Karl was different from Chanel but in reality at Chloe, he did a lot of flou and clothes for women to live in which is essentially Chanel in it spirit.

Galliano, much like Hedi are is the list anyway. The Weirthemer would never.


I wonder if Koche is on the list.

 

[tourbillions]

it seems the magic of jacquemus is that even in tfs his brand is almost put in the same category and people have the same expectations for it as the top tier brands. When in fact price-wise and quality-wise its a contemporary brand at most. And he probably never even intended it to be more than that. That's why its such a hit and very accessible among the gen-z's. Its the french marc jacobs.

 

[Kanzai]

Neither Hedi nor Jacquemus !

 

[PDFSD]

If they’re looking for a storyteller and vibe curator he’s their man. Maybe he’ll flourish with those ateliers, we haven’t seen him work with these kind of resources before. It’s quite a safe and logical choice for them.

Maybe he will be better than Ancora or maybe not lol...on a serious note you can have the best ateliers and big budgets but the brain and taste level is from the same guy/person

Few CD´s out grow or develop a more intricate or different creative voice after certain time its human to be stuck in our ways after certain time ...all this hope for CD's to grow and develop myth is a needle in a football field of grass....

 

[Creative]

Exactly… In fact, designers usually do worse after certain time in the business.

Alber, Nicolas, Stefano, Riccardo… they all did worse after some time. The only ones could be JW and Phoebe.

 

[PDFSD]

Yes they have different esthetics but I feel that he like Karl understands the DNA of the house.

On thing that people might overlook is that John comes with baggage of another kind as his boyfriend Alexis Roche works closely with him, Alexis has a big influence on him at Margiela ......so even if let's say he was on the list its something the Chanel bosses will see as a possible risk as well in case of fall out between them etc will it jeopardise the creative output and stability of John.... do they want a second voice chiming in ......John won't come alone to Chanel without Alexis etc etc

Its a hard sell i feel,besides that John is set in his creative obsessions he likes what he likes and never showed any major deviation from that and that's ok as well.

 

[VogueDisciple93]

I’ve heard from someone close to it all and Jacquemus is definitely the choice. No word yet on when it will be announced.

 

[pradn]

Still rooting for JWA to take the helm.
However, if the Jacquemus Guy's news is true, so...

 

[Creative]

As sad as it is, makes total sense. I wonder how much he will last. I can’t see him surfing the trends like Karl did, but who knows.

 

[george5]

please not Jacquemus. I'd prefer to see Raf Simons getting appointed and to witness another big debacle instead of this

 

[Living Proof]

Lauren Sherman said he’s getting interviewed, doesn’t mean he’s being picked for the job. Though he will probably be seriously considered, Chanel clearly wants someone who can make it a spectacle again, and like him or not, he’s a branding genius.

 

[LadyJunon]

Lauren Sherman said he’s getting interviewed, doesn’t mean he’s being picked for the job. Though he will probably be seriously considered, Chanel clearly wants someone who can make it a spectacle again, and like him or not, he’s a branding genius.

She hit the nail on the head with Ackermann at TF, so this is 100% plausible.

 

[PDFSD]

Pls let it be Haider Ackermann

 

[LadyJunon]

Pls let it be Haider Ackermann

Who gonna tell him/her/them?

 

[Xone]

So if Jacquemus got selected, he will do his own brand as well? being at Chanel demands lots of time and energy....