I cannot keep up anymore with the moves at the big fashion brands. Creative heads change more than I go to my sock draw for a new pair of hosiery. One day there is a big announcement of a designer coming onboard, the next day a resignation with the usual statements: “I enjoyed my time, but it is time to move on”.
The shock of Maria Grazia Chiuri leaving Dior after nine years, another earthquake. This time the word “quit” made the headlines. Chiuri’s modern muted feminist take at Avenue Montaigne made a splash with buyers and media. Personally, I found the lack of dramatic romance in the collections a bit uninteresting at times. The rumours were true, for sometime, chatter has focused on if the Italian born would stay at the prestigious house. On Thursday May 29th, Chiuri called it a day in Paris.
The guessing game now, the replacement, however, thankfully, there are high-end furnished AirBnB’s in the French Capital.
Only two days before, Maria’s one time design partner at Rome based Valentino, Pier Paolo Piccioli just got appointed the head of Kering’s Balenciaga. Once a prestigious label known for lush extravagant designs, fallen sales, at times goofy designs, forced a new approached on the parent company. Previous head Demna pivoted the 106-year-old clothier to a mix of streetwear and stunt designs. How will Pier reinvent the luxury clothier with a modern reputation built on chunky trainers?
Once upon a time creative heads had longevity. Today, ateliers could feel like WeWork stations.
