Personally, the big issue that Arnault doesn't know what to do with Givenchy. In the decade following Hubert's retirement, the house dealt with a rotation of designers and several skipped seasons before hitting gold with Tisci for almost 12 years, before becoming unstable once again. To add to this, Givenchy is extremely similar to Dior, in terms of aesthetics and brand identity, which raises the question of self-cannibalisation.
Givenchy needs to feel fresh and new again. The stages to that would be to:
• find a CEO that is hands-on and knows how to merchandise, position and structure a fashion house in this sort of situation.
• find a creative director who can produce forward-facing collections and desirable accessories, along with the capacity to curate a full 360º image for the house.
• revamp the branding (logo, website, packaging, social media) to shake off the messy history and render those all of those t-shirts and hoodies obsolete.
• revamp the advertising and branding for Givenchy Beauty, especially the advertising for the Interdit and Gentleman perfumes, to fully align with the fashion house.
Dior has long vacated the spot for couture-level fashion-forward propositions at LVMH, so Givenchy should work towards filling that hole.
No, do not touch the logo or the packaging. That’s the only thing timeless and long-lasting of this house.
But Givenchy needs a strong vision.
Having a talented or capable designer won’t change anything if the designer doesn’t have a strong vision. The reality is that Riccardo was the only one with a strong vision and when I mean vision, it was really 360.
Even if his fragrances didn’t work, It was coherent and consistent.
But yes, they don’t know what to do with Givenchy a bit like Kenzo.
For me, Haider has a point of view and we know he is capable in menswear and womenswear but it’s a risk. If the vision is strong and supported by great accessories, it will be a success.
But tbh, Givenchy cannot have a voice in Streetwear today. Riccardo had that authority because he was the first one to jump into it 15 years ago. Now, you cannot compete against Louis Vuitton and Dior in that segment.
The twist of Hedi is that he is committed to his Rock aesthetic while selling merch to Streetwear-enthusiasts.
‘Regarding the beauty, a lot of fashion houses have their beauty department totally separated from the fashion. It’s not a problem per say…Vuitton, Dior, Chanel, Kenzo and others are not aligned with the beauty. But you need a strong institution of a brand to be able to do that because the time frame in beauty is different from fashion.
‘What Loewe did was great as Jonathan was able to redesign everything but the Loewe fragrances were very confidential before.
The good thing at LVMH is that CD can consult on beauty.
LVMH is so big that the semi-failures can be overshadowed by the major successes. But it also shows the fragility within the group. It’s weird to believe that not so long ago, Givenchy was bigger than Celine or that a brand like Loewe was seen as totally forgotten.