Is reinvention a basic element to survive in the fashion industry? The top management of luxury groups – Kering, LVMH and Puig, among others – as well as large and independent brands, namely Chanel, seem to firmly believe this. This is demonstrated by the dance of creative directors that has been happening from the beginning of 2024 until the last days of the year, as if it were a kind of chairs game in which when the twelve bells ring, if you have hesitated and don’t You have moved in time, you are eliminated from the competition. The reason, of course, is the slowdown that the luxury industry is facing due to economic uncertainty and the need to satisfy an increasingly selective and less impressionable consumer.
This year starts with a new map of the industry in which the signing of the Belgian Matthieu Blazy in the creative direction of Chanel stands out, without an official leader since June after the sudden departure of Virgine Viard and a post-Karl Lagerfeld continuity proposal that did not convince the market. The movement of the creative, to whom Bottega Venetta owes its facelift, has forced the Italian brand to recruit the British Louise Trotter, an essential creative in the reinvention of modern luxury in houses such as Carven or Lacoste.
Matthieu Blazy greets at the end of a Bottega Venetta parade.
Another interesting movement has been carried out by Sarah Burton, who assumed the creative direction of Givenchy in September, as well as Michael Rider, in charge of Celine regarding the departure of Hedi Slimane – responsible for erasing the emphasis on the brand and giving it new lines. – and Julian Klausner ascending to the management office of Dries Van Noten, after its eponymous founder retired to make way for, in his words, “a new generation”.
The last and crucial change of stickers was carried out by Gucci and Valentino. The former chose Sabato de Sarno as his designer after Alessandro Michele left the position in 2022 and assumed, this year, the mission of leading the Valentino house.
Sabato De Sarno, recently appointed by the French luxury goods group Kering as creative director of its Gucci brand.
2025 thus begins full of hope and many unknowns that will be resolved in the fashion quadrilateral – the catwalks of Paris, Milan and New York – and ultimately on the streets, when the collections of these new creative directors hit the windows. and the client decides if the proposal convinces them or simply follows their trusted designer to their new home.
Alessandro Michele and Harry Styles have formed one of the most iconic tandems in the fashion industry in recent years
Although we will have to wait to see which strategy each player opts for – bringing their identity to the new brand or creating something totally new – important changes are predicted for all participants. On the one hand, the need to create sustainable collections and production processes not only due to consumer demand, who also seeks craftsmanship and exclusivity, but also due to European regulations that seek to eliminate textile surpluses. And on the other hand, please an audience saturated with information and offers – even in luxury – that rewards being part of a unique and personalized experience: from the display of private parties and film parades to the purchase of the piece.
Source: www.lavanguardia.com
