If there is one game that fashion is obsessed with, no it is not Pictionary or Charades, it’s the game of fashion musical chairs. It feels as though creative directors are quitting and being appointed every two weeks, with rumours of new placements spreading like wildfire. And we have been following each departure, arrival and rumour.
The news has just broken about a new placement: Haider Ackermann is starting a new era at Tom Ford. This placement was unexpected, which makes it even more interesting. The Columbian designer now has two positions, one at Tom Ford and the second at Canada Goose - the latter happened in May 2024 and Ackermann became the first-ever creative director of the brand. The news about the Tom Ford placement was met with praise from social media, and Tom Ford himself commented: “I have long been a great fan of Haider’s work, he is an incredible colourist, his tailoring is sharp and, above all, he is modern.” Ackermann is replacing Peter Hawking, the previous creative director who debuted his first collection for Tom Ford in September 2023. After only a few collections for the brand (that were generally well-accepted), the head executives of the Tom Ford surprised the industry and announced that Peter will not be continuing his journey with the brand. Tom Ford had been without a creative director since the end of July until now - Ackermann's new role is effective immediately.
But Ackermann isn’t the only designer that is returning to our everyday life. We manifested the return of Claire Waight Keller and our prayers have been answered. It has been announced that Claire Waight Keller will become the new creative director of Uniqlo. This is not the first time Claire worked with Uniqlo; she developed the Uniqlo:C line last year. Her career has included a remarkable time at Chloé where she proved to be great commercial designer, and a stint at Givenchy, which proved that she can also do couture magnificently.
The biggest surprise to fashion devotees arrived in June 2024, with the news that Chanel and Virginie Viard had parted ways. Virginie Viard has been labelled “Karl Lagerfeld’s right hand” since she took the helm of the House back in 2019 and she definitely left a mark - commercially speaking, she has been an extremely successful designer with increased sales during her time in Chanel. In 2023, sales for Chanel ready-to-wear collections doubled, with revenue increasing by 16%. It is also worth noting that Viard maintained great results for ready-to-wear during her time, which is apparent as ready-to-wear sales increased by 23% overall since Viard took over Chanel. With all that being said, it wouldn’t be fair not to mention another marker of her time in Chanel, which are the price increases that were implemented more frequently than at any other major brand. The price increases definitely contributed to her successful run. For example, the iconic Chanel Classic Flap bag now retails for $10,800, which is an 86% increase compared to its price in 2019 which was $5,800. All the tactics worked flawlessly because at the end of 2023, Chanel reported a revenue of $19.7 billion.
Chanel has been sculpted to the likes of Karl Lagerfed, a legendary designer that left his heart and soul in the Chanel camellias, so Viard seemed like a great choice to take over from the trailblazer himself. When news of Viard’s departure broke, it sent social media and the industry into a frenzy because the creative director position for the most famous brand in the world was vacant. The real story and the reasoning behind Viard’s exit are not known, but what matters is the future of the House. Who will be the new mastermind behind Chanel?
While he is one of the most popular names to be mentioned when it comes to taking over Chanel, Hedi Slimane has reinvented Celine since joining in 2018, after succeeding Phoebe Philo. With time, Slimane left his mark by creating a menswear line and expanding into fragrances and beauty, doing all of that in a very successful way. According to Business of Fashion, Celine’s revenues surpassed $2.1 billion in 2023, which happens to be a record high for the brand. But does Hedi Slimane see his next five or 10 years in Celine? Time will tell. My personal prediction is that he is going to stay in Celine.
Another House that has a similar story to Chanel is Givenchy, a House that has been without a creative director since December 2023. Matthew Williams was the first American to take over the House of Givenchy and was also the last creative director of the House. While Williams seemed like he could bring the street approach to Givenchy (maybe by taking inspiration from the brilliant work of Ricardo Tisci), Williams unfortunately did not create collections that synced with Givenchy clients. His work appealed to a niche clientele: blazers often included his signature hardware clasp but some of the collections, like AW22, had a strong take on logo. For instance, the shirts that unsuccessfully mixed Givenchy with a heavy metal aesthetic.
His work for his brand Alyx was still great, but Givenchy was maybe a big bite for the American designer. So, what now? Who is destined to bring the fame and honour back to the House of Givenchy? Allegedly, word on the street in Paris is that it could be Sarah Burton. Sarah Burton has been a creative director of Alexander McQueen since he passed and she left the House in 2023. If Burton does become a creative director of the House, she will be the second woman in charge of Givenchy and will create an interesting storyline with her placement. Why? Well, she will follow in Alexander McQueen’s career footsteps who also was a creative director of Givenchy at the second half of the ‘90s. Even though rumours are circulating as usual, some sources mention that this is not the most possible scenario. With that in mind, we can manifest Burton’s placement in Givenchy.
While some Houses are still waiting for a new creative director position to be filled, the House of Valentino is not waiting. Earlier this year Valentino announced that they are parting ways with the brilliant Pierpaolo Piccioli who was the creative director of Valentino from 2008 to 2024 (jointly with Maria Grazia Chiuri for the first 8 years). Valentino acted extremely fast, and the same week announced Alessandro Michele as the new creative director, which caused many talks and debates in the industry.
Fashion and the mainstream media know Michele as the man that revived Gucci and created a never-before-seen cultural impact for a brand. For example, in just 7 years of Michele’s reign - between 2015 and 2022 - the revenue at Gucci more than doubled and eventually surpassed $10 billion. Culturally, Gucci was everywhere. In music videos, on the red carpets and on everyone’s social media feeds. From House of Gucci, the movie starring Lady Gaga and Adam Driver that made $166 million in the Box Office, to celebrities like Harry Styles and Jared Leto essentially living in Gucci, to fans flocking to every Gucci show whether in Los Angeles or Italian villages, Michele left a mark we don’t get to see very often in the fashion industry. But when it comes to Valentino, there are some concerns. Fashion enthusiasts believe that Valentino will be “Guccified”. Michele played into his strengths for his first resort collection (that, funnily enough, dropped on the same day as the Gucci menswear show) and focused on the maximalist history of Valentino, something where Michele excels. Michele’s first official runway show for Valentino will be in September in Paris.
When discussing creative director musical chairs, there are two important designers that must be discussed.
The first is Dries Van Noten, who showed his last collection in June 2024 before going into well-earned retirement. Van Noten has influenced fashion for almost 40 years now and delivered astonishing fashion moments that never felt gimmicky but true and organic. There was always thought behind everything he did and this was one designer that never catered to the trends and following what fashion was doing. Van Noten was his own designer, designing for his woman, and that seems to be the key to his success. While Van Noten leaves a tremendous legacy behind, he will not be completely removed from fashion - the designer confirmed that he will stay involved in the House and advise from a far. The women’s spring summer 2025 collection will be made by the Dries Van Noten Studio team and the new designer will be announced in due time.
Last, but definitely not least, we have the curious case of John Galliano. This year was a turnover for John Galliano in his career and it feels like he is on his redemption tour. Galliano became a global powerhouse with his work for the House of Christian Dior but was fired after making controversial remarks. Years later, allegedly with the help of Anna Wintour, he landed a job in Maison Margiela. The House seemed like a great choice for him because the focus was not on him, but on the clothes. Galliano never took a final bow at the shows (maybe to honour Margiela himself who never took part in the tradition) but he always presented critically acclaimed collections. His pièce de resistance for Margiela happened this January during Couture Week where he created arguably one of the best fashion shows the industry has seen in the last decade. For the collection, Galliano went full force and brought the best of the best, from Pat McGrath who did the porcelain doll-inspired makeup (which later went viral on TikTok as makeup artists tried to recreate the looks), to Robert Mercier who worked on many elements including leather accessories that looked exactly like porcelain. For the show, Galliano went into storytelling mode and explained his universe through the couture pieces. Corsets, padding, fabric manipulations, dramatic makeup: this show is difficult to describe because it has a strong visual identity.
With the success of the couture show, release of his documentary High & Low - John Galliano and several major celebrities like Zendaya, Bad Bunny and Kim Kardashian all wearing his dresses at the Met Gala 2024, it seems that Galliano is on top of the world again. His contract with Margiela is expiring in a few months and the question is: “Where is Galliano going to go?”. As usual, social media is speculating a few options. Some are speculating that he will go back to Dior, others are saying Fendi and a few are even thinking he will be the new creative director of Chanel. Personally, I think he will stay in Margiela because he has free reign. In a recent interview with System Magazine, Galliano mentioned his conversation with Martin Margiela who told him to “make Margiela his own”. And in my opinion, that is what he is going to do.
The fashion industry has always witnessed designers coming and going; new successors and failed partnerships are par for the course. Does it get overwhelming? Yes. But is it interesting to follow? Most definitely. I do have to admit that now it feels as though everyone is moving everywhere but that is only because, over the last two decades, the fashion industry has expanded so much. The market is saturated with countless names and brands - old and new - and there is fashion news breaking every day. But, as you can see here, fashion musical chairs continues to be an interesting game filled with twists, turns, unexpected moves and speculations. Unfortunately there is no clear reward. Unless you don’t find satisfaction in telling someone “I told you so”.
