Kim Jones is officially leaving Louis Vuitton

[artemovartem]

The English designer is to show his last collection for the French brand on Thursday.

PARIS — Kim Jones is to exit Louis Vuitton after showing his fall 2018 collection for the brand in Paris on Thursday, WWD has learned.

Jones has been men’s artistic director of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton’s flagship brand since 2011, parlaying his zest for exotic travel into ultraluxurious collections with understated cool and sly functionality.

“It has been a huge privilege to work with Kim,” said Michael Burke, Vuitton’s chairman and chief executive officer, lauding the designer’s “ability to set trends” along with his talent and determination. “All of us who have been fortunate to work with Kim wish him continued success in his next venture.”

Vuitton has yet to reveal its succession plan for the plum post, which has gained visibility thanks to Vuitton’s mighty show and campaign budgets, Jones’ clutch of celebrity friends and the brand’s high-profile collaborations with the likes of Supreme and British artists Jake and Dinos Chapman. Vuitton described Jones as “the driving force behind some of the Maison’s most successful projects and collaborations.”

In an Instagram post, Jones thanked his team and collaborators. “Thank you @louisvuitton for 7 wonderful years ! You really have been the best and I am grateful to @themarcjacobs for giving me the opportunity to be here in the first place ! I also want to thank Michael Burke for being so great and believing in me and Delphine Arnault for her support,” he wrote.

The development is sure to further fuel speculation that Jones is readying himself for a new design challenge — and could potentially trigger a round of musical chairs in men’s wear, which has not endured as much studio turmoil as women’s wear of late.

WWD was the first to report on Sept. 18 that Versace has held discussions to bring Jones on board, but a deal has yet to surface and the Italian fashion company has never confirmed the speculation.

His name has also been floated as a contender for Burberry, which is seeking a successor to Christopher Bailey, who is to bid farewell to the British brand at the end of March.

Jones could not immediately be reached for comment.

A globe-trotter extraordinaire with a passion for wildlife, Jones has no design experience in women’s wear or couture, but has had a storied fashion career, with John Galliano snapping up his graduate collection from Central Saint Martins.

His own men’s wear label, known for its sporty, streetwear edge, lasted for eight seasons and attracted the attention of Dunhill, where he was creative director from 2008 to 2011. Jones is seen as one of a small clutch of marquee designers who can straddle the luxury and streetwear worlds, which is why Versace might have come knocking.

His final show is sure to be a poignant and electric moment during Men’s Fashion Week in Paris, which gets under way in earnest Wednesday.

Jones was named British men’s wear designer of the year in 2006 and his résumé includes stints at Alexander McQueen, Mulberry, Hugo Boss and Umbro.

wwd

 

[Miss Dalloway]

He did so well for them, but i do wonder if he is moving on to something really big, and those rumors about Burberry might be true! Not sure if Versace is a brand he would want to go to, but who knows.

 

[FadeToBlack]

Someone posted online somewhere at how Kim put two British Models (Kate & Naomi) in trench coats for his finale at Vuitton, hinting at his next step after leaving... for Burberry. I kind of believe this cryptic message for some reason.

I know Kim said his reasoning for that was a tribute to Marc who gave him the chance to do Vuitton menswear and a nod to the 00's Vuitton that Marc did, but I somehow can't help but see that link to Burberry.

 

[BetteT]

Good observation ... you may have something there.

 

[FadeToBlack]

This is quite interesting. When is her contract up?

Since 1984, when Bernard Arnault took control of Boussac Saint-Frères, a troubled textile company that owned Christian Dior, the French tycoon has had a particularly strong attachment to the storied couture house, which became the cornerstone of the LVMH empire.

At the time of the acquisition, Dior had a prestigious history stretching back to post-war Paris, but its brand was diluted by scores of licensing agreements. Arnault set about reasserting the label’s core luxury positioning and slashing its licenses, a costly but ultimately visionary move. He put Dior on a pedestal, then aimed to develop a business that actually matched its premium image.

But while Dior is frequently called the “jewel in the crown” of the LVMH group, the reality has yet to fully live up to this appellation. Dior has never truly rivalled the conglomerate's cash cow, Louis Vuitton. In 2017, Vuitton alone drove approximately 22.5 percent of the group’s overall revenue, or about €9.6 billion, according to estimates by Bernstein. Dior by contrast accounted for only 5.2 percent of group sales, or about €2.2 billion.

But a revolution is brewing.

In April 2017, LVMH took control of Christian Dior Couture in a $13 billion deal, simplifying a complex ownership structure whereby Dior was previously the parent company of the group. The move also enabled better coordination between Parfums Christian Dior, which was already owned by LVMH, and Dior’s haute couture, leather goods, shoes, and men’s and women’s ready-to-wear businesses, which were run completely separately.

Equally important was the recent departure of veteran chief executive Sidney Toledano (now chairman of the LVMH Fashion Group, which houses the conglomerate’s smaller fashion labels like Céline and Givenchy) and the arrival of Pietro Beccari, former chief executive of Fendi, who is expected to bring to Dior a more modern, open and digitally savvy style of management. According to Arnault, Beccari’s appointment “signals a new era” at the brand.

Surely there is more change to come.

Since taking the reins in July 2016, women’s artistic director Maria Grazia Chiuri has brought an activism-tinged, millennial-friendly approach to Dior. While the designer’s work has been met with tepid reviews from some of fashion's top critics, sales are up since she joined the house. Top-selling products are said to include the brand’s classic Lady Dior bag, but also new cult accessories designed by Chiuri, including her logo-ribboned slingback heels and metal logo bags. Certainly, Chiuri’s background in accessories — the real revenue generator for most luxury fashion brands — has helped.

And yet, the sales momentum has not been enough to mask a deeper disconnect between Chiuri’s work and the legacy of Dior. Indeed, Chiuri is the latest in a string of names that have stepped into the breach following the abrupt departure of John Galliano, who first made Dior a mega-brand during his time as artistic director from 1996 to 2011. After his exit, the brand was led by Galliano's former right-hand Bill Gaytten before Raf Simons took over in April 2012, bringing a modern edge to Dior's historical house codes. After Simon's departure in 2015, Dior studio heads Lucie Meier and Serge Ruffieux took the reins. Now, Dior is under the creative direction of Chiuri, who has taken the brand in yet another direction. Compare the rate of creative change at Dior over the last seven years to its arch-rival Chanel, which has been under the sole direction of Karl Lagerfeld since 1982.

On the men's side of Dior, the second coming of Céline — this time under Hedi Slimane, who is back in the LVMH fold after many years and plans to launch Céline menswear, as well as couture and fragrance — may well pose a threat to Kris Van Assche’s Dior Homme as the two designers share a similar aesthetic language (Van Assche was an assistant to Slimane at Yves Saint Laurent and then Dior Homme).

Perhaps one of the key goals of Dior's revolution should be a more unified brand — with men’s and women’s, Christian Dior Couture and Parfums Christian Dior fully integrated under one creative director. One Dior.

At the Paris shows that closed this week, whispers in the front-row suggested that former Louis Vuitton men’s designer Kim Jones, who worked on the brand’s blockbuster collaboration with Supreme, might take the reins at Dior, starting on the men’s side of the business, replacing Van Assche, then absorbing women’s when Chiuri’s contract expires, unifying both collections under a single creative vision and taking a step towards One Dior.

It’s a neat idea, but there are several complications. For a start, unifying Dior’s wholesale-driven fragrance business with its more fully controlled couture business under one roof is easier said than done. Then, there’s the question of the creative director. Despite the speculation, there are few designers who could credibly oversee the full scope of a complex, multi-billion-dollar brand like Dior, with its strong legacy in couture.

For the moment, it seems tighter coordination across divisions is more likely than “One Dior.” But one day the revolution could come.

Disclosure: LVMH is part of a group of investors who, together, hold a minority interest in The Business of Fashion. All investors have signed shareholders’ documentation guaranteeing BoF’s complete editorial independence.

Business of fashion

 

[Lola701]

^^
Her contract will end in 2020 and Kim Jones non-compete agreement will end next year.
I don’t know about KVA’s contract. It’s been 10 years and Dior Homme is in a serious need of a revamp.
LVMH could of course put Kim at Dior but that would be a serious slap on the face for Hedi.

 

[frk-frost]

Very interesting, if a bit too speculative.

 

[FadeToBlack]

I feel like LVMH aren't going to want to let him go because he made LV profitable for menswear and he made it the covetable show of the season. I just don't get why he left LV and no announcement has been made about his replacement?