Discussion: Who Should Be The Creative Director of Chanel?

[tricotineacetat]

Chanel is probably the instigator of this problem TBH. Karl went on a rampage with his 10-12 collections a year, which put pressure on the other houses to start doing Pre-Collections and Resort Collections and Pre-Fall collections and Ski-Collections and Beach Collections, etc etc, and now we have way too many collections and hence luxury fatigue.

For fashion to be exciting again, it needs to produce less and to show less. Maybe three collections a year maximum: Fall/Winter, Resort, and Spring/Summer. Any more than that and it just becomes very repetitive and banal. No brand has that much to say, not even Chanel.

We are now seeing the same Chanel stories being repeated time and time again to the point where I am starting to question whether there is much more to be said at the house. How many more times can we see a Chanel tweed jacket reworked? And that apartment on Rue Cambon? And the Ritz Hotel? It's been done 100000000000 times before and I really don't think you can top what Karl did. Hedi's black and white photography and attention to branding is not enough to save this brand.

It's sad to say, but I think CHANEL has reached its apex. The brand's time has passed and long ago. As Frédéric Grangié said, the world has fashion fatigue. We are in a moment of overexposure, too many shows, ridiculous prices, etc etc. The conditions to create superb fashion no longer exist.

I could not even imagine the commercial pressure on whoever comes next to CHANEL. Imagine having the weight of an $20 billion dollar brand on your back. It's crazy!

I think the fundament and the culture would still be very much relevant today, but like I said, I think we need to look back at the origins of Chanel, to Gabrielle and the mission she embarked on. The practicality of dressing - Not devoid of french chic but without the opulence and froufrou of her male colleagues. She held Cristobal Balenciaga in high regard but not so much Dior and Schiaparelli, which is quite telling of the way she looked at fashion.

Lagerfeld did a terrific thing of his own but it stood in sharp contrast to what happened at Chanel prior to his arrival. I think what the house needs now is a different take and not an imitator of Karl. It will be up to the new designer to take the heritage in a different direction we haven’t looked at the legacy of Chanel at, build upon it, connect it’s past with something new.

When Raf Simons arrived at Jil Sander, he cleverly connected it’s precise tailoring and purism with an intellectual rigor, occasional abstract arts and futurism, while at the same time not neglecting the house’s practical way of dressing. He understood that Jil’s customer likely shopped within a continuum of brands such as Yohji Yamamoto, Miyake or a bit of Alaia and some of his designs references those couturiers clearly - In hindsight, we can see Patrick van Ommeslaeghe as an important asset to strengthen the dressmaking which was never a strong asset in the Jil Sander repertoire. That created an interesting tension that felt right with the house’s legacy. To me, that is an example I feel could stand exemplary for Chanel.

 

[Monsieur Cristobal]

For fashion to be exciting again, it needs to produce less and to show less. Maybe three collections a year maximum: Fall/Winter, Resort, and Spring/Summer. Any more than that and it just becomes very repetitive and banal. No brand has that much to say, not even Chanel.

You might not be surprised if I tell you that people with great power of decision think just the opposite.
If they could, they would stage a show every month.

Let's see if this changes in the coming 2 years.