Discussion: Who Should Be The Creative Director of Chanel?

[lookatme]

Jacquemus would be…an absolutely horrifying choice. The man has no feel for seriously made clothes. It would be such a short sighted and ultimately destructive choice. He’s so cheapy and flash-in-the-pan.

With all these other houses changing creative directors every 3 years, Chanel stands alone as a brand that still feels like an institution. They need to be smart and find someone who can last another lifetime.

 

[tourbillions]

whos she and why should we believe any of this? (allegedly)

anyway jacquemus at Chanel could either be iconic or a short-term plan. But let's face it other than hedi, the only one who's "making it" through building an image of their brand these days is jacquemus. Quality of clothes ofcourse are incomparable between the 2. However we've never seen spj work with a big atelier before though so that could make the difference.

 

[Beun]

I find this hard to believe. His star already seems to be already waning, he has no training and hardly any skills in tailoring, nothing interesting nor coherent to offer on the runway... On the other hand, it doesn't take a genius to churn out the same tired reshuffle of Chanel-clichés season after season, and to have it bought by the brand's tasteless and gullible super-rich customers. Maybe what they need is just a handsome face to paste on whatever the atelier will produce.

 

[Tchi]

Sure he doesn’t have the technical skills, but he has what a DA needs today: he is a Man, rather attractive, French and he has a storytelling that appeals to the masses. Clothes at Chacha have already been ugly for a while and I doubt they are feeding the machine as much as the aspirational products and accessories.
To that, Sabato, who is a technical coming from design background, failed at producing a convincing storytelling straight away, fashion doesn’t wait: SPJ, as much as we don’t like it, already has a success story.

 

[Kimihiro]

I don’t see the value in bringing in another CD if they’re going to churn out the same sh*t. Why remove Viard in the first place?

 

[yslforever]

I don’t see the value in bringing in another CD if they’re going to churn out the same sh*t. Why remove Viard in the first place?

As far as we know, she left. She's the one who had enough of Chanel's sh*t, Leena Nair being the main culprit here.
Jacquemus has no technical skills and limited imagination, but he may have a clearer vision and better ideas, for marketing for instance. And anyways I doubt the RTW sells anyways, I really don't trust the authenticity of Chanel figures.

 

[Kimihiro]

As far as we know, she left. She's the one who had enough of Chanel's sh*t, Leena Nair being the main culprit here.
Jacquemus has no technical skills and limited imagination, but he may have a clearer vision and better ideas, for marketing for instance. And anyways I doubt the RTW sells anyways, I really don't trust the authenticity of Chanel figures.

That feels shortsighted to me, but maybe they see the bigger picture. I don’t doubt SPJ’s knack for creative direction and marketing. It really does work. I don’t know, I guess I’m not ready for Chanel to pull off those stunts outside the Grand Palais. I also feel like his influence is much waining. One mistake might be that many people are measuring it by Karl’s tenure. Who says a Chanel CD can’t be disposable after 3 years?

I hope people will enlighten me, but can a good atelier save a bad designer?

IDK everywhere, but at least where I’m at and the countries around me, Chanel RTW sells. Not as visible as say Dior/LV or even Celine, but you see it at the good streets.

 

[helmutnotdead]

Well…

If these rumors are true, it would be the perfect example to show the decadence, the ignorance and the lack of taste and talent in fashion. An influencer taking over the most important fashion house ever? It’s truly depressing for all of us who love fashion and quite discouraging for all these poor students who are working hard trying to make it.

but in the other hand, if he gets the job we might have the chance to see him disappear forever if his Chanel is not good (which is very likely to happen). So not very bad news after all

 

[tourbillions]

if i was the h.r... comparing someone who always had to piggyback and "restyle" a big name brand will not be chosen over someone who has made his own brand into something. le flap or le flop?

I also wont be surprised if spj really had no intention to go to chanel but paying these people to stir the pot for him.

 

[Creative]

Why am I reading Sarah Jessica Parker when you put SPJ?😭😭

At the beginning I was like, wt* is Sarah doing here? Lmao

 

[Creative]

I might be a smart decision image wise. We don’t have to forget that fashion these days is a show business and skills no longer count.

He has been able to be around since 2008 and it seems people still care about him… I can imagine him doing gimmick after gimmick but a la Chanel. I guess shows would be beautiful and press worthy. He for sure would come up with a new it bag and influencers and press girls would be crazy about it. Maybe it’s not that crazy after all.

I also see him quite “pure” in the sense that he never worked for any other brand and in a way he is considered by people who don’t know about fashion like a “genius” with a story à la Chanel as well (don’t get me wrong).

I am a SJP (😝) hater and I’m not drunk at the moment. Just trying to think how managers might be thinking.

 

[tourbillions]

Why am I reading Sarah Jessica Parker when you put SPJ?😭😭

At the beginning I was like, wt* is Sarah doing here? Lmao

trust me i thought the same when i saw it but its way faster to write 😂😂

his chanel will be basic but beautiful = sales sales sales

 

[yslforever]

I might be a smart decision image wise. We don’t have to forget that fashion these days is a show business and skills no longer count.

He has been able to be around since 2008 and it seems people still care about him… I can imagine him doing gimmick after gimmick but a la Chanel. I guess shows would be beautiful and press worthy. He for sure would come up with a new it bag and influencers and press girls would be crazy about it. Maybe it’s not that crazy after all.

I also see him quite “pure” in the sense that he never worked for any other brand and in a way he is considered by people who don’t know about fashion like a “genius” with a story à la Chanel as well (don’t get me wrong).

I am a SJP (😝) hater and I’m not drunk at the moment. Just trying to think how managers might be thinking.

Not drunk either, and not a fan of his clothes, but I agree with your opinion, if Chanel is chasing after the clout, Jacquemus is their man, he is a bit tired at his namesake brand but with Chanel budgets, he could obviously do much more.
Plus he is a mediatic personality now, his wedding, his friends, his baby girls, etc...
Chanel was face-less with Virginie Viard.
I am just checking his website now and trying to visualize his RTW looks but in tweed, with CC golden buttons, and a camelia brooch... in my mind it's not that bad, not worse that Viard's output (I can't say creations about her).

Do you think he's bringing menswear and kidswear to Chanel too?

 

[Creative]

Not drunk either, and not a fan of his clothes, but I agree with your opinion, if Chanel is chasing after the clout, Jacquemus is their man, he is a bit tired at his namesake brand but with Chanel budgets, he could obviously do much more.
Plus he is a mediatic personality now, his wedding, his friends, his baby girls, etc...
Chanel was face-less with Virginie Viard.
I am just checking his website now and trying to visualize his RTW looks but in tweed, with CC golden buttons, and a camelia brooch... in my mind it's not that bad, not worse that Viard's output (I can't say creations about her).

Do you think he's bringing menswear and kidswear to Chanel too?

Yeah, at the beginning I was like: this has to be a joke, then checked my calendar and saw 2024 and thought: ok, might be true after all.

He is a big name, even if he is just an influencer that happens to make clothes with very poor construction, so poor that you wonder how on Earth they ever saw the daylight.

Young and old generations like him. I was with a top merchandiser yesterday and she asked me: what do you think about SJP (sorry I can’t help it, I guess it’s not even funny by now 😭) because he loved it, and I was like… yeah, he is interesting 😷 (karma please be kind with me).

I think it could be a hit. Fashion people are brainless and customers have no clue about fashion, so it all makes sense.

Also, Chanelizing something is very easy thanks to Karl, so…

Couture by SJP 😭 I can’t even.

 

[tourbillions]

they need a new position for him "vibe director" he will direct the vibe for each season and some shadow designers will design the clothes to fit the vibe. it will work

 

[Thefrenchy]

Please don't let this be true. The thought of him doing Couture sent shivers down my spine.

 

[Creative]

The Lindsay Lohan at Ungaro thing was so avant-garde for the time… it’s the way to go in 2024. But if you do it too early, like they did, you fail. 😂

 

[yslforever]

they need a new position for him "vibe director" he will direct the vibe for each season and some shadow designers will design the clothes to fit the vibe. it will work

Definitely a vibe director…. But fashion, that big corp fashion, has been impersonal for years. The last one being Alessandro Michele.

It’s time to put personality back into that mega-corp fashion because it’s 2024 and a lot of it looks AI-generated already.

 

[LadyJunon]

I'm going to be a controversial hoe and say that SPJ could be a good choice for Chanel for multiple reasons:
- His age: He's 34 years old, meaning that Chanel has abundant time to build "Chanel 3.0" with worrying about him retiring or dying. His young age also gives him the flexibility helming such a huge brand requires.
- His personal image: He's pretty much a smooth-edged Lagerfeld. He appears to be warmth, unserious and overall unabrasive. On top of that, the general audience perceives him as an fashion genius.
- His skills: He's a showman which is very in tune with the current direction of the industry. His approach to design and brandbuilding is very image-centric, a element that is very weak at Chanel. With Chanel's budget, SPJ has the potential to direct incredible shows and ADV campaigns that could rejuvenate the brand's image.
He does have the weakness of the glaring lack of a technical eye, but it shouldn't be too big of a problem if he hires a strong studio director and gives the design team a long leash.

 

[Lola701]

I hate when a fashion writer has the boldness to say « but it wasn’t about the clothes ». It’s maybe not the sensationalist part but it’s is always about the clothes. Without the clothes, there’s no show.
If Virginie’s work was controversial, it’s precisely because of the clothes. Maybe Karl allowed us to look at everything around but it’s still about the clothes.

As for Jacquemus taking over Chanel. I’m not ok with the idea but I’m not against it weirdly.
I’m more against Hedi taking over than Jacquemus taking over.

But tbh, it would be a coup. It will generate buzz, elevate Simon’s cachet and he is a great story-teller and gifted with the marketing eye.

Chanel could be for Simon what Loewe was to JWA. I think JWA revealed himself and elevated his whole aesthetic with Loewe.

There are so many houses without CD now that I just want an announcement and most of all, I want to see the clothes.