Whatever Happened to... ?

[GivenchyHomme]

It's interesting to see our generation of designers fading away. If you look back at older videos and magazines there are designers we have never heard of that have completely disappeared. In another 10-15 years will anyone remember most of the names posted in this thread?

 

[Drusilla_]

It's interesting to see our generation of designers fading away. If you look back at older videos and magazines there are designers we have never heard of that have completely disappeared. In another 10-15 years will anyone remember most of the names posted in this thread?

I know, and a lot of these names are the kind that are only likely to be known or remembered by people like the ones who populate these forums anyway.

But I mean, where else would I come to wonder about what happened to Edward Meadham and Ben Kirchhoff? Meadham Kirchhoff was easily the label closure I felt worst about given it happened through mismanagement and not because of a lack of demand for their clothes. (Ed did a few seasons of a new brand, Blue Roses, with DSM and was in the Bottega magazine issue 2 last year, Ben was living in Berlin as of last year - found out entirely by accident)

 

[lucy92]

Moderators, please go ahead and delete if something like this already exists.

But, I thought it would be worthwhile to start a thread to celebrate, discuss, debate, and share updates on designers who have dropped out of the fashion conversation.


Like, for starters, whatever happened to...

Mary Katrantzou?

She has a low-price collection with UK brand Next for sale right now.

I have no idea how her business is doing overall. The fit was off on her mainline collection for years. Nearly everything ran small in my view. She then launched plus sizes.

 

[lucy92]

Great idea! I add the following names:

1. Behnaz Sarafpour
2. Todd Oldham
3. Isaac Mizrahi

Behnaz still lives in NY. She does custom pieces, small collaborations with other brands and has her own fragrance brand. After she had her target collab, she was still working on the barneys line

Todd Oldham is still active - he's launching a project with reworked vintage pieces soon. He got rid of a number of archival pieces last year. Sold them off - which I think was shortsighted. He's more known for his interior design, crafting and furniture lines which are excellent IMO.

Isaac released his memoir two years ago. Worth reading for the material on his early 90's rise. I think covid put a stop to his one-man show - he enjoyed performing in NYC..

 

[donyan]

It just seems incredibly hard to sustain a career in Fashion. I was thinking of Marc Jacobs the other day, who seemed untouchable for such a long time. A little bit of mismanagement, a few bad seasons , the loss of a contract, and something that was built up for 20 years just crumbles like a house of cards. Why Fashion is such a popular career choice is hard to fathom

 

[donyan]

Anne-Valerie Hash
AF Vandervorst
Veronique Branqhino
Bernhard Willhelm
Haider Ackermann
Lutz Huelle
Bruno Pieters
Cosmic Wonder
Bless
Martin Margiela

when I started being interested in Fashion these were the names I was searching for in magazines and stores, these felt like the names of my generation. How much of those are left now? It's really depressing

 

[lucy92]

It just seems incredibly hard to sustain a career in Fashion. I was thinking of Marc Jacobs the other day, who seemed untouchable for such a long time. A little bit of mismanagement, a few bad seasons , the loss of a contract, and something that was built up for 20 years just crumbles like a house of cards. Why Fashion is such a popular career choice is hard to fathom

A lot of it has to do with the collapse of wholesale as a viable option, Duffy leaving as Marc's business partner and real estate decisions (stores were placed in areas where Marc has homes - not where target customers are) A veritable perfect storm. But he is rumored to be doing a guest design with Fendi in the future - although it will be in no way shape or form as lucrative as Marc's relationship with LV.

 

[Drusilla_]

A lot of it has to do with the collapse of wholesale as a viable option, Duffy leaving as Marc's business partner and real estate decisions (stores were placed in areas where Marc has homes - not where target customers are) A veritable perfect storm. But he is rumored to be doing a guest design with Fendi in the future - although it will be in no way shape or form as lucrative as Marc's relationship with LV.

I acually think Marc's own collections got stronger after he left LV, but it really is saddening to see one of the definitive designers of the 90s and 00s forgotten and downplayed like he's been over the last decade or so. The '10s were where the brand started floundering, even the cosmetics being well liked wasn't enough to keep it going.

 

[Lola701]

I acually think Marc's own collections got stronger after he left LV, but it really is saddening to see one of the definitive designers of the 90s and 00s forgotten and downplayed like he's been over the last decade or so. The '10s were where the brand started floundering, even the cosmetics being well liked wasn't enough to keep it going.

He delivered some of his best work after Vuitton. But I think there’s a real lack of identity in his work as a whole and the audience has a hard time connecting with his work.
I think only people in TFS or the fashion world can look at a MJ collection and say: This is so Marc Jacobs!

He will always remain the king of cool but it’s a bit bittersweet to not have him or his brand on the same level as Rick Owens, Tom Ford or Thom Browne.

 

[eugenius]

What happened to Gareth Pugh?

It seems like the hype + momentum was steadily building throughout the years. Then, Dick Owens bought into his company ($$), which I thought would've taken him to the next level.

But since then...

(I remember when the hype around here was like "Oh, he's the new Galliano".."the new McQueen". Why? Because he showed some talent at first & headed to Paris? That, my dear TFSers, does not make anybody a new somebody, esp. a new Galliano or McQueen.)

 

[StoneSkipper]

Another question: what happened to Louise Goldin?

 

[bc collector]

I keep reading this thread and think: was this or that designer really worth our attention to begin with? Are we really surprised they faded out of public attention after a few seasons?
Yes, of course it's the tough market, it's the massification of taste, the end of retail as we knew it and so on. But for me it's mainly our expectation to find a new McQueen every season, desperate and cinic at the same time, because many of these designers were not ready for the pressure that such early attention implied, were swallowed by a system of systematic flattery and then soon forgotten as soon as the "next big thing" appeared on the horizon: the main culprit here being the British and the American press, IMO.
In fact, most of the names in these lists are British or American. Then, the second wave Belgians just could not keep up with their predecessors, full stop. Many of them were also too niche to expect any real global development from their vision (and, I want to be clear, being niche for me is respectable choice, not a handicap). I was not expecting Bernhad Willhelm to became a new Galliano, in fact in my mind I am still recovering from the shock of him being called to revive the Roman couture house of Capucci in the early '00s.
I guess this is what Colin McDowell referred to when he said that London Fashion Week was becoming a "r*pe of the innocents"...

 

[donyan]

I keep reading this thread and think: was this or that designer really worth our attention to begin with? Are we really surprised they faded out of public attention after a few seasons?
Yes, of course it's the tough market, it's the massification of taste, the end of retail as we knew it and so on. But for me it's mainly our expectation to find a new McQueen every season, desperate and cinic at the same time, because many of these designers were not ready for the pressure that such early attention implied, were swallowed by a system of systematic flattery and then soon forgotten as soon as the "next big thing" appeared on the horizon: the main culprit here being the British and the American press, IMO.

True, and it's strange to see that the only one of all of those designers still in business and seemingly doing well is the one I least expected to last because there was only ever very little hype or flattery or presence in the mainstream fashion magazines. Come to think of it maybe that is one of the reasons he's still there. He was never 'the next big thing' so he never became 'last season's hype' either. I didn't always like the work but in some weird way he's managed to stay true to himself while also evolving. It seems as good a way as any to carve out a career in fashion although If and how this is financially viable I don't know

 

[kasper!]

#66 An Vandervorst is teaching in Polimoda Fashion School, her title is Head of Fashion Design Department.

#57 Hannah MacGibbon is working as creative director and consultant now...she styled an ed in Self Service magazine two years ago.

 

[Steddycam91]

Marc's post-Vuitton trajectory has really been a bummer. As others have noted, a lot of his ouput was exceptional (F/W 2014, F/W 2015, S/S 2016 are among my all-time favorite collections of his) but a lot of the business and overall brand decisions were just incredibly misguided. Hiring Katie and Luella to try and expand Marc by Marc Jacobs...and then promptly dropping them and the label altogether and absorbing everything into the mainline. Would also argue that Marc's and Katie's constant aesthetic 180s each season, coupled with the aggressive expansion of cosmetics and fragrance, made the overall vision of the brand very murky and hard to gauge; did it make any sense to cast bombshell Adriana Lima to launch a new fragrance for a famously cerebral/playful/geek-chic brand?

 

[Olaffo]

Haider Ackermann is on holidays from Fall 2020 RTW, he has joined Maison Ullens beginning of 2021 and all I can heard of is he custom made gowns for Tilda and living his best live on yacht/desert/sea.

Such a shame but he has never stretch himself tbh.

 

[Steddycam91]

Haider Ackermann is on holidays from Fall 2020 RTW, he has joined Maison Ullens beginning of 2021 and all I can heard of is he custom made gowns for Tilda and living his best live on yacht/desert/sea.

Such a shame but he has never stretch himself tbh.

Don't forget him glomming onto Timothée Chalamet .

It's actually kind of wild to flash back a decade, when Haider's clothes were once worn on the cover of US Vogue and his name was being bandied about as Karl's potential successor at Chanel.

 

[Olaffo]

It's actually kind of wild to flash back a decade, when Haider's clothes were once worn on the cover of US Vogue and his name was being bandied about as Karl's potential successor at Chanel.

Yes! His sense of style can easily place him everywhere and he'll excel, nonetheless facts are facts and now he is not particularly interested in doing anything fashion related. Hopefully he will come back...

 

[Pastry]

flash back a decade, when Haider's clothes were once worn on the cover of US Vogue and his name was being bandied about as Karl's potential successor at Chanel.

IKR?!

i was thinking the other day...
what happened to sophia kokosalaki?

 

[Melancholybaby]

i was thinking the other day...
what happened to sophia kokosalaki?

Sophia Kokosalaki, Who Gave London Fashion a Grecian Spin, Dies at 46