Discussion: Who Should Be The Creative Director of Chanel?

[PDFSD]

Maybe that is the next step: execs as the icons in fashion.

i agree and believe this is already happening as next step corporations have Ceo´s speak for companies not creative directors its already the norm in other fields.

it's like the fickleness of creatives are not a stable way of communication for companies and they need a levelhead corporate person to do the job.

i agree with all you mentioned on the rest its not random and its observations that i made as well.

 

[Nimsay]

not Wall Street Journal backing Marc.

I told you the Art Scene in manhattan loves Marc and they’re cuddled up to Wall Street since Wall Street is the Artist customer.

this new CEO is concerning me. Her thoughts and opinions seem out of date and im concerned if she knows what she’s doing. Im not sure why I would even speak about AI or something about Chanel. Then talking about how the AI showed the Chanel ceo was a man not a woman.


Like who cares? Where are my designer clothes Leena ? Its giving 2014 energy and im worried about Chanel.

 

[Lola701]

not Wall Street Journal backing Marc.

I told you the Art Scene in manhattan loves Marc and they’re cuddled up to Wall Street since Wall Street is the Artist customer.

this new CEO is concerning me. Her thoughts and opinions seem out of date and im concerned if she knows what she’s doing. Im not sure why I would even speak about AI or something about Chanel. Then talking about how the AI showed the Chanel ceo was a man not a woman.


Like who cares? Where are my designer clothes Leena ? Its giving 2014 energy and im worried about Chanel.

I don’t think the decision depends on her…
Bruno and the Weirthemers will decide.

 

[vogue22]

There is no way Marc, the Olsens or P. Mulier are going to Chanel.

Thanks for the article, PDFSD. It was well written, but its author is like everybody else trying to figure out things through a very thick fog.

About the "new balance of power", which intrigues me a lot...
My theory:
Till the death of Karl, his "voice over like a personal god guided you to believe in a 10k coat" (PDFSD © 🤣). The designer was in a way also the PR of the brand and in charge of the storytelling.

But this type of very charismatic Creative Director is very rare nowadays. They want their privacy. Maybe they give one interview to The New York Times and that's it. The only interwiew I remember by Hedi was the one issued when he created the first and final Couture collection at Saint Laurent (spectacular interview, by the way, sharp like a razor).

I've been watching a couple interviews with Leena Nair. She is good at explaining Chanel. The same questions come over and over: Women, Chinese market, AI, human craftmanship vs. technology, the future of Chanel, sustainibility, inclusion, the long term decisions because they are a private company, her own personal story who everybody agrees to find very inspiring, the "lift while you climb" motto...

Maybe in the near future it's going to be the CEO the one in charge to explain the meaning of a brand, and the designers will only design.
Even here, a forum about fashion, names like S. Cantino, P. Beccari, M. Bizzarri, F. Bellettini, S. Toledano, C. Charbit, the Arnaults... are not unknown.
Maybe that is the next step: execs as the icons in fashion.

(sorry if this sounds apocalyptic and random 😅)

Hmm im intrigued now, could you please give me links to these specific interviews.

 

[alwaysademo]

I've been watching a couple interviews with Leena Nair. She is good at explaining Chanel. The same questions come over and over: Women, Chinese market, AI, human craftmanship vs. technology, the future of Chanel, sustainibility, inclusion, the long term decisions because they are a private company, her own personal story who everybody agrees to find very inspiring, the "lift while you climb" motto...

Maybe in the near future it's going to be the CEO the one in charge to explain the meaning of a brand, and the designers will only design.
Even here, a forum about fashion, names like S. Cantino, P. Beccari, M. Bizzarri, F. Bellettini, S. Toledano, C. Charbit, the Arnaults... are not unknown.

Hope you don't mind me asking, what exactly is inspiring about Leena's story? that she was the first of her kind to secure that job position?
What has she done at Chanel? Being hired cannot be the aspirational part.
I like success stories as much as the next one but i feel like we're losing focus.

 

[blueorchid]

I was reading an old article from my "archives" (lol) and I found this one from 1990. It's more about YSL, but I find the criticism of Karl's Chanel to be interesting in retrospect. Obviously no one is listening to me when it comes to this matter, but as a choice... in a way... could Hedi be too close to Karl? I wonder if what's needed is a designer who's not going to rely AS MUCH on what Karl did with Chanel and (hopefully) present a new interpretation of Chanel. Karl's definitely a designer that I look at with an "absence makes the heart grow fonder" approach now that he's not around and most designers are LITERALLY designing rags... but hmm, yes, once upon a time people were critical of him! Maybe it has to be someone drastically different to refresh it all... but is that what they want?

Aaanyway, it gave me something to think about for 2 minutes:



Connoisseur February 1990

 

[jeremydante]

I was reading an old article from my "archives" (lol) and I found this one from 1990. It's more about YSL, but I find the criticism of Karl's Chanel to be interesting in retrospect. Obviously no one is listening to me when it comes to this matter, but as a choice... in a way... could Hedi be too close to Karl? I wonder if what's needed is a designer who's not going to rely AS MUCH on what Karl did with Chanel and (hopefully) present a new interpretation of Chanel. Karl's definitely a designer that I look at with an "absence makes the heart grow fonder" approach now that he's not around and most designers are LITERALLY designing rags... but hmm, yes, once upon a time people were critical of him! Maybe it has to be someone drastically different to refresh it all... but is that what they want?

Aaanyway, it gave me something to think about for 2 minutes:

View attachment 1324140
View attachment 1324141
Connoisseur February 1990

Respect all you contextualized here. Something for us to really reflect upon for sure.
Can't say that he and Hedi are similar, because Hedi is a copy-cat of Karl at most; whether it's design continuity or one-trick pony status, I am unsure. Chanel needs something new.

This what a nice glance back. As cutting as the article exerpt is, it's still pretty true. Which, at that time, people were tired of but hey- it endured, and it has staying power. Current day or vintage it endure.