In Fashion, success relays on the Community a designer can bring.
While Summer 24 passed by calmly, it was a season full of changes in terms of Fashion Designers:
Enough to start writing a season of "Game of Thrones"...(if only George R. R. Martin would finish The Winds of Winter!). While I'm not focusing on the new designers (still I can't not mention Alessandro Michele for Valentino and my post here), I would like to point out two questions that came into my mind. Especially just before the new #FashionWeek will start again with the SS25 Spring/Summer 2025.
The decline in luxury consumption (as Claudia D'Arpizio pointed out together with her colleagues at 贝恩公司 ) is something that companies are either ready to handle, or it will catch them off guard, prompting a reflexive reaction. In an increasingly saturated market, it is clear that Companies need to prioritize innovation and creativity to stay relevant to consumers, aiming to both expand their customer base and foster brand loyalty. The first question is simple: how?
A possibility I've seen in these last months is represented by hiring Fashion Designers that have a loyal customer base already: adoring fans that will follow them wherever they will go. It's a true relationship that can be developed directly nowadays, thanks to the #socialmedia account of the designer. As Financial Time's journalist Kati Chitrakorn wrote on her article published in late July: "the difficulty for today’s creative directors is that expectations range far beyond just bottom-line growth". If we check the data shared there, we will see that despite the vitriol from online amateur critics, designers including Virginie Viard and Maria Grazia Chiuri, currently creative director at 迪奥 granted a commercial successes to the Company they were (for Virginie) or are still (for Maria Grazia) working for.
The reason(s) for the Viard's goodbye is not to be searched in her last CHANEL Cruise 2024/25 Fashion show in Marseille at MAMO (yes, rumors said so, and said that she was not "selling enough", but those rumors are from amateurs). In fact at Chanel sales grew from $11.1bn in 2018, just prior to Viard’s arrival, to $19.7bn in 2023. The reality is known only from those who are or were working there, closely with Sir Alain Wertheimer ans Sir Gerard Wertheimer.
The second question after all the musical chairs game is from a HR perspective: is humanity out of fashion? This question was a title of a 纽约时报 article that appeared earlier this year, that sum up perfectly my perspective. Whether these designers were ultimately dismissed (consider Sarah Burton as well) or parted ways due to creative differences with their employers, CEOs...etc , it's evident that among them, few recognized the fashion trends were shifting away from their vision. Emotions have fallen out of favor, while what's cool and meme-worthy is now in vogue. Instead of compromising, certain of them chose to leave.
To finish, while the designer and its community are playing a prominent role in the development of a Fashion Brand, we all should remember that leading on sustainability and embracing technology is also a key to success. Lowering the carbon footprint becomes a new mission. I hope that you agree with me. If you wish, post here your examples. I have few in mind and open to discuss.