^^
Leaving does not mean you are the weaker one but it’s not even a weak or not conversation.
The reality is that it all comes down to relationships between humans. Moving the studio is nothing new and it’s not an issue per say. Everything becomes an issue when the relationship with the counterpart is hard.
I’m sure NG would have stayed at Balenciaga if Guichot was a competent executive. She wasn’t. And for me all the glory for the rebirth of Balenciaga should go to Ghesquiere.
And today, I don’t think Charbit has any clue to what he is doing and I don’t think nobody at Kering is thinking long term anyway…
I’m always on the creative side but I also try to be pragmatic.
But this time, for me it goes both ways. Even if at the end, LVMH wanted him to stay I can see him say « I’m done ». He executed his vision until the end and the brand will be just fine.
The reality today, and it has been the case since Tom Ford really, CD are expected to have a business mind. In reality they always had (Karl, Mugler, Gaultier, Rykiel, Yamamoto and others). But what happens is that sometimes, a CD has a clear vision and the suit don’t has a vision, has a different vision and doesn’t know how to execute it.
And in a way, today suits can hide themselves behind the « total creative vision » of the designer to mask their lack of awareness on the industry and the market when things are difficult.
But the term gods for me here was uncalled for. Nobody is challenging the status of the creatives.
But in this instance, of a business issue, the ones calling the shots and having the « last word » in the company is the owner.
Tbh, I just think it’s a pity that in 2024, we have a major designer, with everything that has been achieved so far, who is leaving because of strategic/relationships issues with the CEO.
And I have to say that a lot of people in the new generation of executives, particularly in France, lacks the culture to run a fashion business. When you see the energy of a Pietro Beccarri, you understand why he is where he is. You see Michael Burke, you understand why he was there. The same for Toledano.
One of the best fashion CEOs, Jean Louis Dumas, Domenico De Sole, achieved great success because they understood the culture, the products, they spent times with the makers, not only with the numbers.
Sometimes it’s simple: you spend time with a creative, you are taken by what’s going on, you believe in it and you end up being ready to do whatever to make it succeed.
It’s maybe what was missing in the Merle/Slimane relationship.