Kim Jones - Designer, Creative Director of Fendi & Dior Men
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eugenius
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Oh, please. Just give him the menswear job, and leave womenswear alone.
His menswear at both Dior & LV ran the gamut from good to great, and I rarely saw anything that was downright awful. He definitely proved himself to be a more than capable designer there.
Even under Silvia’s lead, Fendi menswear was (is) a non-issue. It’s merely clothes for men with money. This is where somebody like Kim can come in & really bring something noteworthy (and stylish), since there’s really no unique look to the menswear.
Does it seem odd that, for a strong womenswear line, they’d choose somebody that’s probably never even made a dress before?
(Does it seem odd that I continuously show support of a designer whose clothes I’ve never even worn before?)
His menswear at both Dior & LV ran the gamut from good to great, and I rarely saw anything that was downright awful. He definitely proved himself to be a more than capable designer there.
Even under Silvia’s lead, Fendi menswear was (is) a non-issue. It’s merely clothes for men with money. This is where somebody like Kim can come in & really bring something noteworthy (and stylish), since there’s really no unique look to the menswear.
Does it seem odd that, for a strong womenswear line, they’d choose somebody that’s probably never even made a dress before?
(Does it seem odd that I continuously show support of a designer whose clothes I’ve never even worn before?
)
Ken Doll Jenner
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The more I got exposed to news about his appointment, the more I think it is a baffling decision on LVMH’s part. Silvia barely had any chance to prove that her womenswear could sell well or not considering the pandemic really went into high gear after the FW 2020 Fashion Month. I might be exaggerating, but her show did restore my faith in how the industry is not going to become a complete dumpster fire this decade.
So unless she really did have a say in this decision, I would continue to believe that they did her dirty.
So unless she really did have a say in this decision, I would continue to believe that they did her dirty.
jeanclaude
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It is so funny when they talk about "democratizing fashion"...and then they place the same fistful of designers at the helm of their brands over and over...
RedSmokeRise
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Well, that came out of left field. Terrible news!
Guess we'll go through a whole series of "updating" the logo, collabs, redoing stores, retraining sales staff, more FF monograms. And for what? So that after his 2-year contract ends they'll rotate someone else in to do the same? Ugh.
Guess we'll go through a whole series of "updating" the logo, collabs, redoing stores, retraining sales staff, more FF monograms. And for what? So that after his 2-year contract ends they'll rotate someone else in to do the same? Ugh.
Lola701
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Seriously, I don’t know what to expect from his work at Fendi. Of course logos but he has some great archives and a house that is not at all conservative. It can be interesting if he takes the opportunity. Fendi will become hypebeasts’s favorite brand and I can see it two ways:
- The buzz of his Fendi becomes so big that he becomes creative director for the menswear in collaboration with Silvia.
- They follow what it seems to be the defined plan with him taking over Dior fully!
MGC’s contract seems to be a 3years one that she renewed so she’ll be out in 2022. And one later, Nicolas will be out of Vuitton.
Kim has a chance to show his abilities in womenswear. It will be a loss for him to only play with logos...Considering that he’ll do Couture. He is like Galliano, groomed for the main job!
LVMH is playing very safe now. Kenzo is not that it. Givenchy wasn’t the success expected. The same for Celine...
Fendi, Dior, Vuitton and Loewe are the good students and they are counting on them to drive the growth of the group.
I would love for them to give a designer job to one of their LVMH prize’s winner
Ken Doll Jenner
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Didn't they try to revive the Baguette with a SATC-inspired campaign last year? I believe the campaign--which also hired SJP--was laughably called #BaguetteFriendsForever.
Lola701
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The bag never really disappeared. Their bags are quite successful but they don’t have « hype » moments. It wasn’t « the trend of the season » but now, hypebeasts will pay attention to it. It was a fashionista bag but not hypebeasts. There are a lot of women who are hypebeasts!
I’m sure he’ll do some consulting on the menswear...
Benn98
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Fendi Selects Kim Jones to Replace Karl Lagerfeld
The British fashion designer will oversee Fendi haute couture, ready-to-wear and fur, but will also continue as artistic director of Dior Men.
By Elizabeth Paton and Vanessa Friedman
Sept. 9, 2020, 4:37 a.m.
The job of artistic designer at Fendi has finally been filled.
The storied Roman fashion house and fur specialist announced on Wednesday that the British fashion designer Kim Jones would replace Karl Lagerfeld, who died in February of last year, in the role.
Mr. Jones will be responsible for the haute couture, ready-to-wear and fur collections for women, Fendi said in a statement. He will also maintain his current position as artistic director of Dior Men in Paris.
It is the second major designer move by Fendi’s owner, LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, the world’s largest luxury group by sales, since the coronavirus pandemic began. (The French company appointed Matthew Williams as Givenchy’s new designer in June.) As such, it reflects the luxury group’s commitment to forging ahead with its brands and buzzy designers, even as questions swirl around the future of fashion, shopping and the entire traditional show system.
In a statement, LVMH’s chief executive, Bernard Arnault, called Mr. Jones “a great talent,” adding that he had proved his ability to adapt to the codes of assorted LVMH houses “with great modernity and audacity.”
The choice of Mr. Jones is the culmination of more than than a year of discussions and apparent soul-searching by LVMH, which built Fendi into a billion-dollar brand. Fendi has been a core pillar of its fashion empire since it purchased an initial stake in the company from the Fendi family in a joint venture with Prada in 1999 (in 2001, LVMH became the brand’s sole owner).
Along with Silvia Fendi, the only family member still in the company, who will continue to design Fendi accessories and men’s wear once Mr. Jones arrives, Mr. Lagerfeld was integral to that growth. Over a 54-year tenure at Fendi, Mr. Lagerfeld created the concept of “fun fur” when fur was seen as the stale province of the bourgeoisie. He held “haute fourrure” shows on the couture calendar even as fur increasingly fell out of fashion. He and Ms. Fendi appeared on the catwalk together at the end of every women’s wear show.
Though it was often suggested that Ms. Fendi, who referred to Mr. Lagerfeld as a mentor, might assume sole creative ownership of the brand after his death, executives at LVMH were open about their belief in the benefit of two creative personalities sparking off each other. (Along with Mr. Jones, another name thought to be in the running for the position was Maria Grazia Chiuri, artistic director of women’s wear at Dior.)
Designer pairings can be a risk, given the egos that are sometimes involved. But along with Miuccia Prada’s recent decision to name Raf Simons as co-creative director of Prada, pairing Mr. Jones and Ms. Fendi may also signal a new approach to team-building in fashion. A fetishization of the single visionary has more often been the norm, and several high-profile talents like Mr. Jones and Virgil Abloh have increasingly juggled multiple design responsibilities across top fashion houses.
Fendi’s chief executive, Serge Brunschwig, called Mr. Jones “one of the most talented and relevant designers of today.”
For his part, Mr. Jones said: “I would like to profoundly thank Mr. Arnault, Mr. Brunschwig and Silvia Venturini Fendi for this incredible opportunity. Working across two such prestigious houses is a true honor as a designer and to be able to join the house of Fendi as well as continuing my work at Dior Men’s is a huge privilege.”
A graduate of the London art-and-design school Central Saint Martins and one of the brightest stars on the luxury men’s wear scene, Mr. Jones has long been ascendant at LVMH. Before joining Dior Men’s in 2018, he worked at Louis Vuitton as their men’s wear designer for seven years.
There, he brought his longstanding love and encyclopedic knowledge of hyper-luxe street wear — athletic tech fabrics, big sneakers, oversize graphic T-shirts and elegant tracksuits, but also crocodile backpacks and cashmere baseball tops — to a superbrand that had been overly content to sell its male clientele little more than monogrammed leather cases, belts and wallets.
More recently, at Dior, his shows merging suiting with streetwear and reworking tailoring for a modern audience generated buzz beyond the men’s market. They have shown Mr. Jones to be more plugged in to the outside world than some of his industry peers.
In July, for example, a week after the brand was criticized for casting an all-white ensemble of models for its women’s wear couture presentation as Black Lives Matter protests raged worldwide, Mr. Jones featured only Black models in his spring/summer 2021 collection. It was designed in collaboration with the acclaimed Ghanaian portrait painter Amoako Boafo. In December, Mr. Jones was named designer of the year at the Fashion Awards in London.
billion-dollar mark in annual sales for the first time. Now, even the most prestigious luxury brands are facing colossal challenges because of the pandemic, which will force luxury industry sales to contract by 25 percent to 45 percent this year, according to estimates by the consulting company Boston Consulting Group.
Luxury executives everywhere are tackling decisions around supply chain disruption, excess stock and how to sell it, potential store closures and a global recession that will hit the wallets of millions of consumers globally and raise the stakes exponentially for any new designer.
But Fendi stalwarts appeared bullish about the boost that the house would get from Mr. Jones’s hire.
“I look forward to taking the Fendi universe to the next level with Kim,” Ms. Fendi said.
Though Fendi is planning to hold a physical show on Sept. 23 in front of a reduced audience during Milan Fashion Week, Mr. Jones’s debut collection is planned for February as part of the fall/winter 2021 show season, the company said.
The industry is hoping that by then, shows will once again be heralded live events — all the better for a blockbuster debut.
New York Times
The British fashion designer will oversee Fendi haute couture, ready-to-wear and fur, but will also continue as artistic director of Dior Men.
By Elizabeth Paton and Vanessa Friedman
Sept. 9, 2020, 4:37 a.m.
The job of artistic designer at Fendi has finally been filled.
The storied Roman fashion house and fur specialist announced on Wednesday that the British fashion designer Kim Jones would replace Karl Lagerfeld, who died in February of last year, in the role.
Mr. Jones will be responsible for the haute couture, ready-to-wear and fur collections for women, Fendi said in a statement. He will also maintain his current position as artistic director of Dior Men in Paris.
It is the second major designer move by Fendi’s owner, LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, the world’s largest luxury group by sales, since the coronavirus pandemic began. (The French company appointed Matthew Williams as Givenchy’s new designer in June.) As such, it reflects the luxury group’s commitment to forging ahead with its brands and buzzy designers, even as questions swirl around the future of fashion, shopping and the entire traditional show system.
In a statement, LVMH’s chief executive, Bernard Arnault, called Mr. Jones “a great talent,” adding that he had proved his ability to adapt to the codes of assorted LVMH houses “with great modernity and audacity.”
The choice of Mr. Jones is the culmination of more than than a year of discussions and apparent soul-searching by LVMH, which built Fendi into a billion-dollar brand. Fendi has been a core pillar of its fashion empire since it purchased an initial stake in the company from the Fendi family in a joint venture with Prada in 1999 (in 2001, LVMH became the brand’s sole owner).
Along with Silvia Fendi, the only family member still in the company, who will continue to design Fendi accessories and men’s wear once Mr. Jones arrives, Mr. Lagerfeld was integral to that growth. Over a 54-year tenure at Fendi, Mr. Lagerfeld created the concept of “fun fur” when fur was seen as the stale province of the bourgeoisie. He held “haute fourrure” shows on the couture calendar even as fur increasingly fell out of fashion. He and Ms. Fendi appeared on the catwalk together at the end of every women’s wear show.
Though it was often suggested that Ms. Fendi, who referred to Mr. Lagerfeld as a mentor, might assume sole creative ownership of the brand after his death, executives at LVMH were open about their belief in the benefit of two creative personalities sparking off each other. (Along with Mr. Jones, another name thought to be in the running for the position was Maria Grazia Chiuri, artistic director of women’s wear at Dior.)
Designer pairings can be a risk, given the egos that are sometimes involved. But along with Miuccia Prada’s recent decision to name Raf Simons as co-creative director of Prada, pairing Mr. Jones and Ms. Fendi may also signal a new approach to team-building in fashion. A fetishization of the single visionary has more often been the norm, and several high-profile talents like Mr. Jones and Virgil Abloh have increasingly juggled multiple design responsibilities across top fashion houses.
Fendi’s chief executive, Serge Brunschwig, called Mr. Jones “one of the most talented and relevant designers of today.”
For his part, Mr. Jones said: “I would like to profoundly thank Mr. Arnault, Mr. Brunschwig and Silvia Venturini Fendi for this incredible opportunity. Working across two such prestigious houses is a true honor as a designer and to be able to join the house of Fendi as well as continuing my work at Dior Men’s is a huge privilege.”
A graduate of the London art-and-design school Central Saint Martins and one of the brightest stars on the luxury men’s wear scene, Mr. Jones has long been ascendant at LVMH. Before joining Dior Men’s in 2018, he worked at Louis Vuitton as their men’s wear designer for seven years.
There, he brought his longstanding love and encyclopedic knowledge of hyper-luxe street wear — athletic tech fabrics, big sneakers, oversize graphic T-shirts and elegant tracksuits, but also crocodile backpacks and cashmere baseball tops — to a superbrand that had been overly content to sell its male clientele little more than monogrammed leather cases, belts and wallets.
More recently, at Dior, his shows merging suiting with streetwear and reworking tailoring for a modern audience generated buzz beyond the men’s market. They have shown Mr. Jones to be more plugged in to the outside world than some of his industry peers.
In July, for example, a week after the brand was criticized for casting an all-white ensemble of models for its women’s wear couture presentation as Black Lives Matter protests raged worldwide, Mr. Jones featured only Black models in his spring/summer 2021 collection. It was designed in collaboration with the acclaimed Ghanaian portrait painter Amoako Boafo. In December, Mr. Jones was named designer of the year at the Fashion Awards in London.
billion-dollar mark in annual sales for the first time. Now, even the most prestigious luxury brands are facing colossal challenges because of the pandemic, which will force luxury industry sales to contract by 25 percent to 45 percent this year, according to estimates by the consulting company Boston Consulting Group.
Luxury executives everywhere are tackling decisions around supply chain disruption, excess stock and how to sell it, potential store closures and a global recession that will hit the wallets of millions of consumers globally and raise the stakes exponentially for any new designer.
But Fendi stalwarts appeared bullish about the boost that the house would get from Mr. Jones’s hire.
“I look forward to taking the Fendi universe to the next level with Kim,” Ms. Fendi said.
Though Fendi is planning to hold a physical show on Sept. 23 in front of a reduced audience during Milan Fashion Week, Mr. Jones’s debut collection is planned for February as part of the fall/winter 2021 show season, the company said.
The industry is hoping that by then, shows will once again be heralded live events — all the better for a blockbuster debut.
New York Times
Benn98
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Some time back someone brought the rumour over here that Mary was in talks to take over Fendi. That must've happened in the early stages.
Not sure what would be worse though. Kim Jones Fendi couture or Mary doing couture for both Dior and Fendi.
Not sure what would be worse though. Kim Jones Fendi couture or Mary doing couture for both Dior and Fendi.
Lola701
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What could be worse is MGC doing Fendi after the end of her Dior contract!
The nightmare and I’ll never buy Fendi ever again (as if they cares lol)!
liberty33r1b
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another house that will be ruined. there are not that many left....
velvetandsilk
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It is laziness. They favour people with have good relationship with Arnault childs. All this people which you mention work for fashion house but as assistant. Sometimes they designer more part of collection. Someone have to do boring job truste on change color in MGC dresses useing trendbooks.
WAVES
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unexpected news FOR SURE but after reading some of your comments, especially Lola701, it does make sense.
I literally
when I read “Along with Mr. Jones, another name thought to be in the running for the position was Maria Grazia Chiuri, artistic director of women’s wear at Dior“. WTF!!!
I’m not sure if Kim Jones will be a good fit for Fendi... only time will tell I guess but I would’ve loved someone new... but I guess big corporations don’t really want to take such chances anymore.
I literally
when I read “Along with Mr. Jones, another name thought to be in the running for the position was Maria Grazia Chiuri, artistic director of women’s wear at Dior“. WTF!!! I’m not sure if Kim Jones will be a good fit for Fendi... only time will tell I guess but I would’ve loved someone new... but I guess big corporations don’t really want to take such chances anymore.
dior_couture1245
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Omg. Kim Jones is such a hack??? I never understand the obsession with him? Everything he does is so dweeby???
GivenchyHomme
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He's great for the futuristic and technical side of Fendi, but not for the romance or the luxury. The brand needs someone that is well rounded in every single area. It needs a designer with a romantic heart that can really pull out something emotional, but can also back it up with killer accessories. I don't get that from him. everything at Dior is cold and calculated. It's as robotic as his version of the saddle bag. Italian fashion is a horse of another color. It's not enough just to be commercial, you have to bring emotion into it. Many brands have tried to go against that and have failed in the process. Versace and Prada are struggling, Bottega is drying out, Cavalli and Pucci are dead, and Gucci has become a soulless machine. Call me old fashioned, but I see Italian fashion as something that is romantic and full of ideas that can actually be worn. The industry is moving in a new direction and commercial and safe isn't going to cut it anymore. The bubble was bound to burst sooner or later. Kim is really going to have to pull a rabbit out of his hat if he wants the brand to be more than accessories. I'm open minded, but not optimistic about the future.
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