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The tectonic plates of the fashion world are shifting once again.
On Friday, LVMH confirmed that Kim Jones would be stepping down from his post as women’s wear designer at Fendi after four years, but that he would remain as artistic director of Dior men’s wear, a job he has held since 2018.
The news comes just over a week after LVMH, the world’s largest luxury group, announced that Hedi Slimane would be leaving Celine and would be replaced by Michael Rider. News that itself came after LVMH’s decision to sell Off-White, the brand founded by Virgil Abloh, to the American firm Bluestar Alliance, the owner of brands like Limited Too; buy the celebrity magazine Paris Match; and sign a 10-year deal with Formula One.
The Fendi announcement provides resolution to at least one of the maelstrom of rumors that have been swirling around the fashion world all summer, roiling the industry to such an extent that they practically overshadowed the clothes during the recent round of ready-to-wear shows.
For seasons, whispers had held that Mr. Jones was not long for Fendi, creating a cloud of doubt that hung over the brand no matter what was actually going on. And despite the against-the-odds nature of the task Mr. Jones had been given.
A celebrated men’s wear designer whose work for Dior — and Vuitton before that — had been transformative for both brands, Mr. Jones had never done women’s wear before taking on Fendi. And he wasn’t just trying his hand at a new discipline; he was splitting his time (and mind) between two different houses and stepping into the footsteps of Karl Lagerfeld, the mythic designer who had transformed both Fendi, where he worked for 54 years, and Chanel. Even if Mr. Lagerfeld’s work for Fendi was less definitive than his work for Chanel — other than creating the concept of “fun fur,” he had never really established a recognizable identity for the brand —, his profile was so high it obscured the creative confusion.
Not only that, but Mr. Jones had to make his debut during pandemic lockdowns and bring a brand whose reason for being was fur into an increasingly fur-free world.
If he never quite managed to define a clear silhouette for Fendi women’s wear or an argument for why everyone would want to wear it (and he did not), he did prove he could make women's fashion, sometimes markedly modern women's fashion, as well as couture. He held a mega-resort show in New York in celebration of the Fendi Baguette bag with a special guest appearance by Linda Evangelista, collaborated with Donatella Versace and Marc Jacobs, and largely succeeded in distancing Fendi from the legacies of Mr. Lagerfeld and fur. He effectively cleared the way for whoever comes next.
Which rumor has it, may be Pierpaolo Piccioli, late of Valentino and currently out of a job. But maybe not? Fendi’s news release about Mr. Jones’s departure simply said that a “new creative organization would be announced in due time.” There was no mention of any change for Silvia Fendi, the designer of accessories and men’s wear for Fendi.
At any other time, another job opening, joining those at Chanel and Dries Van Noten, would create more turbulence, not less. But the speculation even about positions that currently have designers in place has gotten so out of control, reaching beyond the tiny world of the front row to Instagram and other social media feeds, that any resolution to the tittle-tattle and chin-wagging is actually positive.
The Fendi-Dior news doesn’t help brands like Gucci and Burberry, where falling sales and a tepid critical response combined with the challenging economic climate have made guessing games about the fates of the current designers (Sabato De Sarno at Gucci and Daniel Lee at Burberry) into the equivalent of fashion fantasy football.
But at least the announcement that Mr. Jones is staying at Dior may affirm the status quo at that brand — Mr. Jones at Dior Men and Maria Grazia Chiuri designing the women’s wear — and put an end to speculation that LVMH would abandon its strategy of multiple creative directors for its billion-dollar brands and unite each house under one lord and chieftain, causing even more dominoes to fall.
Come next year, one thing is certain, though. At least seven brands will have new designers: Celine, Givenchy (now with Sarah Burton as creative director), Tom Ford (where Haider Ackermann has taken over), Lanvin (Peter Copping), Calvin Klein (Veronica Leoni), Chanel and Fendi. Perhaps it’s time to stop with the rumors, and focus on the reality.
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