I get your point completely, I just meant that one of the important components for hiring someone of that caliber and in general a designer, is someone who’s fuss free and I’ve seen that first hand. This applies to all brands universally i think. People with any type of charisma are shoved under a rug and in corporate also. You need to be made of metal nails to be
in there. Sorry if I didn’t make myself clear
Passive and almost ice cold is how MB operates in comparison to the likes of Lee , if we could compare them they are people from different galaxies
But designers are all aiming for the same goal: creative freedom. And the idea of corporatism is very different in France or Italy compared to US or UK.
I think behind the idea of corporatism from an Anglo-Saxon mindset, there’s this idea of control whereas in France or Italy, it’s more about the weight of Administration. It’s very much cultural to fight that idea of control.
That’s why I don’t subscribe to the idea or the fantasy of hiring Blazy to do the work they want and pull strings from him. They could have done that by simply promoting someone from the studio.
A designer who comes to a house comes with his/her savoir-faire. That savoir-faire would likely change the structure and the habits of a company.
I think behind the fantasy of a Machiavelli Blazy plotting to get the job of Lee, there was also something more pragmatic behind the idea of a life of a studio. They were perfect colleagues at Celine but the power dynamic at BV changed their relationship. But one thing doesn’t have any influence on their talent.
Blazy is after all someone who has has every role possible for a designer in his career. He started as an intern, became an assistant then a design director, then a creative director. He has evolved in companies of different sizes and culture and proved at BV that he could propose something that would serve the brand. I think his confidence comes from that. That’s what is expected from him as a designer.
Galliano was a mess in terms of personality. That’s probably why he had to perform so much to be more than what he is actually. But when it came to his job, he was untouchable. Because in front of the atelier, you have to be quick and relevant.
Because yes, we talk about charisma and everything but it’s irrelevant. Designers at big houses today don’t like the superstars treatment of Karl and others because it can be a destructive fantasy. Where charisma is expected is when you have to explain your concept to the teams and Bruno Pavlovsky or when you have to present a new bag to Bernard Arnault an then, when Madame Cecile is asking a technical question or when you have to say to Olivia that the skirt needs to be shorter and a trim has to be added, even when it’s different to the initial concept.
I just don’t think that not liking Blazy’s work (which is totally fine) is a reason to question his capacities. This is not Alexis Mabille or Christian Siriano or even Jacquemus and the Ludovic de Saint Sernin type….
