Is Peter Som Celine's New Man?
Could be a major moment for young American designers
NEW YORK: Wednesday, May 25, 2005
Roberto Menichetti’s out, but is Peter Som really in?
Word surfaced in Paris yesterday that Menichetti’s relationship with the French fashion house of Celine, for which he was the chief designer, is over, and that Peter Som is likely to take his place. During a shaky two-season tenure at Celine, Menichetti’s collections were poorly received by fashion critics and plagued by scaled-back purchase orders from buyers, who compared the designer’s tenure at Celine to a luxury cruise ship headed into the Bermuda Triangle.
Tenley Black, communications director at Celine USA, was in Paris and not available for comment at press time.
Sources say that Celine had been interviewing possible replacements for Menichetti as early as the beginning of the year, while the designer was in the midst of preparing the fall collection. “I’m not surprised in the least. I had heard definite rumblings,” said one retailer. Menichetti, who also designs for his own label, took over the reigns at Celine last April, replacing Michael Kors, who saw the house through 13 collections. Kors’ jet-setting style for Celine was received well by the fashion press, retailers, and customers, but Celine never managed to achieve the status it was seeking. “Roberto was more about innovation; he likes to develop new fabrics and he’s more streamlined,” said one fashion editor very familiar with Menichetti’s work. “Celine is a very classic house, one that was built up by heritage…it was like the Gucci of France…very chic and very French, and that’s not Roberto at all.”
Peter Som, who once apprenticed for Kors, and is a three-time CFDA nominee for emerging womenswear designer, may be Celine’s answer.
“If [Som’s appointment] is true, then I do think it’s an amazing moment for the young American designers. It’s a big compliment. It shows that people give a lot of promise to young American designers. We’re talking LVMH here. For Peter, it’s going from something very small to something very big. He’ll have to think more internationally, globally…you are now going to be showing in Europe and for a brand that has stores all over the world. That will be the biggest challenge for Peter,” the fashion editor said. “I think the time is right; I think he’s up to the challenge,” concluded another retailer. “If he’s got the right team.”
And perhaps none too soon. Tuleh designer Bryan Bradley is one man whose name has been dragged through the rumor mill as a replacement for several key designers at various fashion houses over the years. But this time around, he said he had had no contact with executives at Celine. “I’ve said enough times in the press that I have no interest in that kind of job, so no, of course they haven’t contacted me,” he lamented when reached by phone. “And lastly, who the hell cares about Celine anyway?”
JIM SHI
per fashionweekdaily.com
Could be a major moment for young American designers
NEW YORK: Wednesday, May 25, 2005
Roberto Menichetti’s out, but is Peter Som really in?
Word surfaced in Paris yesterday that Menichetti’s relationship with the French fashion house of Celine, for which he was the chief designer, is over, and that Peter Som is likely to take his place. During a shaky two-season tenure at Celine, Menichetti’s collections were poorly received by fashion critics and plagued by scaled-back purchase orders from buyers, who compared the designer’s tenure at Celine to a luxury cruise ship headed into the Bermuda Triangle.
Tenley Black, communications director at Celine USA, was in Paris and not available for comment at press time.
Sources say that Celine had been interviewing possible replacements for Menichetti as early as the beginning of the year, while the designer was in the midst of preparing the fall collection. “I’m not surprised in the least. I had heard definite rumblings,” said one retailer. Menichetti, who also designs for his own label, took over the reigns at Celine last April, replacing Michael Kors, who saw the house through 13 collections. Kors’ jet-setting style for Celine was received well by the fashion press, retailers, and customers, but Celine never managed to achieve the status it was seeking. “Roberto was more about innovation; he likes to develop new fabrics and he’s more streamlined,” said one fashion editor very familiar with Menichetti’s work. “Celine is a very classic house, one that was built up by heritage…it was like the Gucci of France…very chic and very French, and that’s not Roberto at all.”
Peter Som, who once apprenticed for Kors, and is a three-time CFDA nominee for emerging womenswear designer, may be Celine’s answer.
“If [Som’s appointment] is true, then I do think it’s an amazing moment for the young American designers. It’s a big compliment. It shows that people give a lot of promise to young American designers. We’re talking LVMH here. For Peter, it’s going from something very small to something very big. He’ll have to think more internationally, globally…you are now going to be showing in Europe and for a brand that has stores all over the world. That will be the biggest challenge for Peter,” the fashion editor said. “I think the time is right; I think he’s up to the challenge,” concluded another retailer. “If he’s got the right team.”
And perhaps none too soon. Tuleh designer Bryan Bradley is one man whose name has been dragged through the rumor mill as a replacement for several key designers at various fashion houses over the years. But this time around, he said he had had no contact with executives at Celine. “I’ve said enough times in the press that I have no interest in that kind of job, so no, of course they haven’t contacted me,” he lamented when reached by phone. “And lastly, who the hell cares about Celine anyway?”
JIM SHI
per fashionweekdaily.com
