Maria Grazia Chiuri - Designer

[ellearchivist]

The only designer they could have appointed at McQueen for me was Giles Deacon.
He could have helped them make a smooth transition because unfortunately, the change is so drastic that even old clients might have moved on from McQueen and will probably go to Givenchy.

Because the foundation of Alexander McQueen’s commercial success is Sarah Burton. Lee build a legacy but it was her fashion and her products that made the brand successful commercially. Now that everything is gone, the logo is changed and clearly, there’s a confusion, how could a client react?

The poor guy will probably be fired at the end of his tenure. Kering has more issues now with Gucci, Balenciaga and Valentino! So nobody is checking for him…

The brand is on life support. Any value that Burton created has evaporated along with any profit. If he makes it to the end of his contract it will be a miracle, everything at the brand is just so messy and so unclear. Who is the customer? Would love to know what is going on internally!

 

[chalayan]

The brand is on life support. Any value that Burton created has evaporated along with any profit. If he makes it to the end of his contract it will be a miracle, everything at the brand is just so messy and so unclear. Who is the customer? Would love to know what is going on internally!

i think kering is too busy trying to save gucci from imploding, and desperately maintain bottega's momentum, and reinvigorate balenciaga, and halt saint laurent's sudden decline, to even notice whatever the f*ck is going on at mcqueen. it perfectly mirrors how alexander himself was treated under the aegis of lvmh - the black sheep. this label has so much untapped potential but i don't think kering has the capacity nor the desire to undertake the kind of global search that would be required to source mcqueen's true successor

 

[FashionPower]

The brand is on life support. Any value that Burton created has evaporated along with any profit. If he makes it to the end of his contract it will be a miracle, everything at the brand is just so messy and so unclear. Who is the customer? Would love to know what is going on internally!

70% of the sales comes from the chav coded platform sneakers
20% of the sales comes from the heritage accessories (e.g., the slull clutches)
...the rest is a mix of RTW and other seasonal merchandise
After Sarah's departure, they probably even lost the loyal customers addicted to Burton's sharp tailoring

 

[jeanclaude]

By the way, it's hilarious and also quite puzzling to think that current most skilled / successful creatives were mentored by Marc Jacobs, Valentino himself and Tom Ford, while NONE from Karl...
MJ:
- Demna
- Kim Jones
VG:
- MGC
- PPP
Tom Ford:
- Stefano Pilati
- Frida Giannini
Karl:
- Virginie Viard...LOL

Looking at all those "talents", I think Karl was wiser spending his time with Choupette...

 

[Avonlea]

McQueen makes no sense without Lee. They shouldn't even try to find his successor, it's impossible. The house should be closed, but the corporate greed will never let that happen. They would probably do just fine only reissuing archival pieces from both McQueen's and Sarah's tenures.

 

[Nimsay]

Karl always said you have to figure it out for yourself.

McQueen should lead its own conglomerate since his world can certainly support super brand status.

McQueen w Sarah was already viewed as a cream of the crop brand by RTW shoppers. A new accessories designer, shoe designer plus a marketing budget and perfume that smells good could have taken it to super brand status.

I remember the mcqueen perfume at harrods in like 2005 and it smelled awful. They spent a fortune promoting that - an entire ornate shop in shop just for the perfume right at the entrance off the street.

They also had concept mcqueen stores in random places like vegas. His clothes looked amazing in the stores. Really it was a moment.

Hedi for Mcqueen.

 

[yslforever]

Looking at all those "talents", I think Karl was wiser spending his time with Choupette...

Karl: Gilles Dufour and Lucien Pellat-Finet † ? they were (are) charming designers at least.

And Yves : Hedi and Alber †

 

[jeanclaude]

Karl: Gilles Dufour and Lucien Pellat-Finet † ? they were (are) charming designers at least.

And Yves : Hedi and Alber †

Yves had better taste, that´s for sure!

 

[Lola701]

Karl: Gilles Dufour and Lucien Pellat-Finet † ? they were (are) charming designers at least.

And Yves : Hedi and Alber †

In all fairness, we should attribute Hedi and Alber to Pierre Bergé.

Karl’s best talents: Victoire de Castellane and Herve Leger.

Wasn’t Jean Paul Knott at YSL too at some point?

 

[Avonlea]

He was. I would like to know how the collaboration between him and Yves looked.

 

[Lola701]

I wish she would embrace the full circle moment and be appointed as Valentino creative director.
Lallo is flopping hard and the new Valentino direction is alienating both loyal customers from the old Valentino era and the younger clientele who started following the brand first under PPP and MGC and then under PPP alone.
By the way, it's hilarious and also quite puzzling to think that current most skilled / successful creatives were mentored by Marc Jacobs, Valentino himself and Tom Ford, while NONE from Karl...
MJ:
- Demna
- Kim Jones
VG:
- MGC
- PPP
Tom Ford:
- Stefano Pilati
- Frida Giannini
Karl:
- Virginie Viard...LOL

I don’t think Mr Valentino expected his bags designers to actually be good at fashion.

I think Tom has mentored far more talented people than Frida Giannini: Christopher Bailey, Alessandra Facchinetti, Francesco Costa, John Ray.

Karl and Valentino came from a different era. They had too much ego anyway so they did not mind choosing assistant that were less talented than them. That’s how you stay on top for so many years lol.

I don’t get the Marc Jacobs thing though?
His only assistant are Peter Copping, Julie de Libran and we should add Camille Miceli because he pushed her to be more than a PR.
Kim Jones was the CD of Dunhill before coming to Vuitton and Demna came form Margiela, worked at Vuitton under Marc and Nicolas before the breakthrough with Vêtements. So no clear filiation even more considering that his aesthetic narrative was more influenced by Margiela.

 

[Lola701]

He was. I would like to know how the collaboration between him and Yves looked.

I would be very surprised actually if he ever interacted with Yves.
He probably mostly interacted with Pierre and Loulou. Maybe @yslforever would tell us more about it.

 

[yslforever]

I would be very surprised actually if he ever interacted with Yves.
He probably mostly interacted with Pierre and Loulou. Maybe @yslforever would tell us more about it.

Anne-Marie Munoz

 

[FashionPower]

Does anyone know if her inner circle is out from Dior too?
I assume her right hand (the funny woman who briefly describes the accessory making in the promotional savoir faire videos) and Rachele Regini left the company and I also assume no more Dior "cultural advisory" board managed by Rachele itself...

 

[rowjellies]

Kate looks amazing!

Is this an old design from Mary Grace?

 

[Olaffo]

^ yes it is Dior jacket and skirt (selected due to French president’s state visit).