The Economist“Have you seen Valentino’s new collection?” Katerina Kirkou asked me one day when we were discussing the topic of the buying guides that you will see in our next issues. “No. Should I?’ I asked her. After the departure of Pierpaolo Piccioli from the helm of the artistic direction, I had put up with the Italian house and did not follow him, I kept his face. Unfortunately for me, I look at things in fashion more emotionally than I should. And even worse, I identify people with the artwork. So how can I want to see a Valentino collection again if it’s not by Piccioli? Of the man who put a house that had gone into automatic mode back on our radar?
From Chanel to Gucci and from there to Calvin Klein, the changes we see lately in the position of artistic director in each house are more and more numerous. The chairs are emptied and filled with impressive ease. Designers move quickly around the key positions and whoever can get a seat. We observe the phenomenon in our attempt to decode it.
The same man, in collaboration with the Pantone Color Institute, created Pink PP (from the first letters of his name), which became the “it” color of the season for a whole year. In fact, he managed to identify this particular shade with a house whose name until then was synonymous with red! And to do that, you need stomach and vision. Things that Pierpaolo had.
His place was taken by Alessandro Michele, who some time ago uploaded to his Instagram account two looks from his first collection at the helm of the house.
I found the clothes very… Michele, quite a bit of Gucci and a bit of Valentino. Why so much Gucci? Because Alessandro Michele was the artistic director of the Florentine house for eight years and his design mastery is very characteristic. Of course, in 2015 when he took over at Gucci he wasn’t who he is today.
He was a 43-year-old relatively unknown designer who was already working in the house’s ateliers as head of accessories. They bet on his talent and trusted him to bring new air and glory to the brand. And he made sure to increase its revenue and make it the ultra-luxury brand it is today. Because before Michele it wasn’t like that. Along with the profit and value that multiplied over the years, Michele also managed to create a very distinctive style for the house.
“This is very Gucci” we said, referring to renaissance elements, lace, gender fluid cuts, goth details, maximalism…
And so, despite managing to bring almost €10 billion in revenue to Kering (the French luxury conglomerate that also owns Saint Laurent and Balenciaga, among others) in 2021, in 2022 the once unstoppable profitability began to slow. And although Michele had tried to find new profitable paths at Gucci – in the metaverse, in the world of fine dining, by creating restaurants, or with collaborations such as Adidas and Harry Styles – the hype was waning. So, almost automatically, twenty years after he joined the company, it confirmed his announcement that he was leaving.
Michele’s move from Gucci to Valentino isn’t the only one we’ve seen in recent years.
On the contrary. We have been noticing a lot of movement lately among the artistic directors of the houses. Chairs that creak, chairs that empty and fill instantly, and faces that just change the chairs they sit on. Like Sabato De Sarno, who since January 2023 has been the artistic director of Gucci. Of course, this is preceded by a fourteen-year career at Valentino, where he held various positions before becoming fashion director for men’s and women’s ready-to-wear. Confused? Yes, Valentino got something from Gucci and Gucci got something from Valentino. This “incest” behavior is something new.
Let’s go back to March 2023. That’s when the most important departures in the world of fashion began.
Pierpaolo Piccioli announced his from Valentino – after 25 years – on March 22. A few days ago it was announced that Dries Van Noten would leave the house of the same name. The acclaimed Belgian designer stepped down from his own brand in June after nearly four decades in the fashion industry, handing over the reins to the design studio for the next few seasons – until the right artistic director is found.
So did Tom Ford , who stepped down from the leadership of his brand, with Peter Hawkings taking his place. Then Jeremy Scott said goodbye to Moschino after a decade as creative director, and Sarah Burton left Alexander McQueen in September 2023 after two decades (which almost made us cry).
Soon after, Bruno Sialelli left Lanvin, ending his four-year tenure. And Gabriela Hearst left Chloé three years after taking over. Of course, the list of “lost” could not miss the name of Virginie Viard , who last June announced that she was leaving Chanel. She was the third designer in a row of the French house that she took over after Karl Lagerfeld ‘s death in 2019. She worked closely with him for three decades and was just beginning to make her own mark in design.
There have been other notable creative directors, but they served very short terms. For example, Walter Chiapponi , who at the beginning of spring left Blumarine after just one season. Ludovic de Saint Sernin did the same last May with Ann Demeulemeester . Also, Serhat Işık and Benjamin A. Huseby (the design duo behind the GmbH label) parted ways with Trussardi after less than two years.
In January of this year, the name of Adrian Appiolaza was announced as the artistic director of Moschino. In 2024 we saw or expect the debut of Seán McGirr at Alexander McQueen, Matteo Tamburini at Tod’s, Alessandro Vigilante at Rochas, while just a few days ago the name of Peter Copping was announced for Lanvin. This year is the beginning of this new period that we are seeing for most houses and for the fashion industry as a whole.
And while the new positions appear to be filled by white men, the need for female designers in staff positions is growing.
In May, however, the name of Veronica Leoni was announced, who will be the new creative director at Calvin Klein and the first woman in this position in the history of the brand (the company was running without a head after Raf Simons left in 2019). In addition, it is worth mentioning Chemena Kamali, who took over the house of Chloé after Gabriela Hearst. Kamali’s first collection, presented at the latest Women’s Paris Fashion Week, Fall/Winter 2024-25, won industry acclaim. Meanwhile, Givenchy is still looking for a successor to
Matthew M. Williams, who is leaving in 2023.
The two designers mentioned above, like other designers who have recently taken over the position of artistic director at iconic houses with huge legacies, are young – or at least younger than their predecessors. Leoni and Kamali are both in their early 40s, and the fashion industry in general is seeing a wave of fresh talent – many of them in their 30s. Like Stefano Gallici , born in 1996, who just took the role of creative director at Ann Demeulemeester, and Seán McGirr, born in 1988, who took over at Alexander McQueen.
Apparently, the fashion industry and basically the Kering and LVMH groups , which own the lion’s share of luxury fashion brands, are looking for youth. And reasonably so! We would say that this could be a way for traditional fashion brands to connect with newer audiences and bring new consumers to their boutiques. On the other hand, these new faces will need time to showcase their talent and manage the fast-paced world of fashion, which is full of challenges.
Of course, the rapidly changing nature of this space is much easier to manage for a young person who has grown up in the age of fast information, mass culture and social media. We hope, however, that the speed with which social media moves does not affect the speed with which artistic directors change in each house.
It is true that the advent of digital media has revolutionized the way fashion houses interact with consumers. Social media platforms, websites and digital advertising have become an integral part of modern marketing strategies. But visual storytelling, as valuable as it is in content creation, is only for digital consumption and doesn’t necessarily drive sales. Something trending on social media does not necessarily mean commercial success.
On the other hand, commercial success does not necessarily guarantee the chair for the creative director.
As we saw in the case of Chanel, which saw an increase in revenue in recent years with Viard, this was not enough to keep the creative director in place. Revenue was $19.7 billion in 2023, up 75% from 2018. This may be partly due to price increases in Chanel bags – a quilted design 2.55 cost around €4,000 in 2010 and €11,000 today –, but clothing sales have also more than doubled since 2018. So have other houses and their artistic directors.
At Gucci, Alessandro Michele grew sales from €3.6 billion in 2015 to nearly €10 billion during his eight-year tenure.
Daniel Lee turned Bottega Veneta into a luxury powerhouse by increasing sales by 28%, from €1.17bn in 2019 to €1.5bn in 2021, in his three years at the house (he left suddenly in 2021 ). Hedi Slimane completely revamped Celine, despite the fashion world’s obsession with #oldceline, which characterized the years former creative director Phoebe Philo was designing there . With the absolute consistency of its vision, the house of Celine made revenues that exceeded 2 billion euros for 2022. It seems that there is no precise criterion and no specific factor that keeps Bernard Arnault and François-Henri Pinault – CEOs of the multinationals happy LVMH and Kering respectively, which own the various fashion houses. The reasons behind these departures/hirings and changes vary – from creative differences to management challenges.
Certainly one season or even one year is not enough to see if a new artistic director is worth it.
It takes some time before we can evaluate something like that. This is because when such a change is made, i.e. when a new creative director is hired, other changes follow like dominoes in the respective brand, from new employees in the atelier (most often chosen by the new chief designer) to a brand new business strategy in consultation with the managing director. Also, the Board of Directors and many other non-creative executives are changing. Therefore, every change is accompanied by a period of instability. Of course, if the business strategy doesn’t work, none of them will be to blame. The responsibility is always shifted to the creative director. And his chair will creak.
The Economist
Johanna Liander
Sophie Rosemont
Alexis Parker
Amandine Lhoste