Kokosalaki Rumored on Way to Givenchy
September 07, 2004 - New York
Word it has that Givenchy is poised to hire Sophia Kokosalaki to become the next creative director of the famed Paris fashion house.
Neither the president of Givenchy nor representatives of the Greek-born Kokosalaki would confirm the reports, but well-informed sources say it’s close to a done deal.
“I don’t think it is correct to the people I have been speaking to, or to the designers that we won’t end up working with, to make any comment on this,” the president of Givenchy Marco Gobbetti, who joined Givenchy from Moschino in February, told FWD in a call from Paris.
“This is obviously a key decision. Whoever we chose will be the basis for the development of the brand in the next few years and we have very ambitious goals for Givenchy,” the Givenchy president told FWD.
The position of creative director of the womenswear in Givenchy has been open since April when the house did not renew the three-year contract of Julien Macdonald.
Givenchy has been a revolving door of British designers ever since Hubert de Givenchy retired in 1995. First John Galliano did three seasons at Givenchy before moving on to become a smash-hit at Christian Dior, then Alexander McQueen generated enormous media attention but less success at retail, before the three-year reign of the Welsh Macdonald, characterized by lukewarm reviews and far less excitement.
Gobbetti has previously made clear that Givenchy will take a one-season break between creative directors this October, and present a collection in showrooms designed by an in-house team this October in Paris.
In London, a spokeswoman of Kokosalaki at the firm Relative PR told FWD. “Givenchy? I cannot comment on what’s been going on. I will have to get back to you on that.” She did not.
The choice of Kokosalaki would mean two London-based designers helming Givenchy. This summer, the first-ever men’s artistic director at house, Ozwald Boateng, staged a well-received spring-summer 2005 collection during the Paris season.
“We have had a very, very good response from the collection Ozwald created. We will enjoy a significant increase in sales and have signed up many new specialty stores as clients,” Gobbetti said.
Kokosalaki would join Givenchy with an excellent resume, including a slew of gun-for-hire gigs over the past few years.
Kokosalaki is a guest designer for U.K. clothing retailer Topshop, and has been designer for two seasons for Ruffo Research, the top-quality Italian leatherwear manufacturer that has also employed Haider Ackermann, Véronique Branquinho and Raf Simons.
A year ago, Kokosalaki won the British Style Awards for best New Generation Designer, and in August the Swiss fashion festival Gwand named her a nominees for the coveted Swiss Textiles Award 2004, a prize worth $120,000.
But most importantly, with the decampment of major bold name designers from London such as Vivienne Westwood, McQueen and Roland Mouret, Kokosalaki’s show has become the must-see show in London of recent seasons.
Her style is a clever mélange of references to her native land blended with contemporary ideas like patchwork and macramé leather has created a signature hip Grecian style.
Kokosalaki is not the first name to pop up on the Givenchy rumor mill, which has seen Viktor & Rolf and Josephus Thimister mentioned as candidates.
This summer, trade papers claimed that the job would go to Alber Elbaz but he eventually re-signed with Lanvin. Now, the smart money is on Sophia. Gobbetti hopes to make a decision before the end of November. Stay tuned.
will be pleased !!! 
because I love how well tailored and lovely his designs are 
