Those stories and more in our daily news roundup.
Photo via Sass & Bide
Those stories and more in our daily news roundup.
Photo courtesy of Versace.
Less than a day after PPR announced that Nicolas Ghesquière would leave Balenciaga, there's already talk of where he's headed next.
Suzy Menkes cites "a person in the Paris fashion industry" as saying that LVMH chairman Bernard Arnault has offered Ghesquière his own fashion house. According to Menkes's source, one of Arnault's children (either his daughter, Delphine, or his son Antoine, CEO of the men's brand Berluti) would take over the business side of Ghesquière's brand. Another source called the situation at LVMH "delicate."
In fact, there's some speculation that a delicate situation with PPR management is what caused Ghesquière to leave in the first place. According to WWD, tensions had been rising between the designer and Balenciaga CEO Isabelle Guichot over a "lack of support and funding" and a desire for a more commercial offering. The freedom and resources Hedi Slimane was given when he took over at Balenciaga's sister label Yves Saint Laurent — changing the brand's name and logo, for example — are also said to have contributed to Ghesquière's departure. The Financial Times' Vanessa Friedman points out that after 15 years of service, Ghesquière was only recently allowed to start advertising. Most of his shows have been staged at Balenciaga headquarters "to save money," but Slimane's first show for Saint Laurent was held in Paris's Grand Palais.
Whatever the reason for the split, Guichot says she already has a "short list" of potential candidates to replace Ghesquière — and she wants to hire a new creative director in short order. While she hasn't named names, sources claim Alexander Wang, Joseph Altuzarra, Kostas Murkudis, and Bouchra Jarrar are among the possibilities. PPR is also said to have its eyes on Londoners Mary Katrantzou, Christopher Kane, J.W. Anderson, and Thomas Tait.
"My biggest interest is to focus the organization, accompany the team, and develop the brand potential, so it's in my interest to do it as soon as possible," Guichot said.
If Ghesquière had been unhappy about his departure from the brand, he didn't hint at it in a recent profile featured in Style.com/Print. But in the process of talking about embracing Balenciaga's rich past and trying to move it forward, he does betray a sort of introspection about his work. "Because the house has such a history, I have had to look to the future and respect the past for my own moment," he says. Perhaps his moment is now.
Photo: Ghesquière taking a bow at his Fall 2012 show for Balenciaga.
Those stories and more in our daily news roundup.
Photo: Elaine Welteroth in front of the the Yves Saint Laurent Beauté counter at Saks Fifth Avenue.
Those stories and more in our daily news roundup.
Marc Jacobs has had a very busy week: he presented Germany's Design For Tomorrow Award — which honors talented student designers — in Berlin and also took time to reflect on the worldwide presence of his brands in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. Read on for his thoughts on Louis Vuitton, working for Bernard Arnault, and more.
On the difference between Marc Jacobs and Louis Vuitton: "For me, sexy is not about a tiny waist or a heaving bosom. I suppose Louis Vuitton is more overt as a brand than my collections for my own brand, Marc Jacobs. But when I say Marc Jacobs is not about sex I mean that from a fashion perspective, it's not based on vulgarity."
On working for Arnault: "I've said before that working for Mr. Arnault is like working for the farmer in the movie Babe. I mean, he's never going to jump up and down with exuberance, and the most he can say has often been the equivalent of 'That'll do pig.' But now he does praise me, which is great."
On his aesthetic: "Sometimes I think I'm very old-fashioned in my approach. Where fashion is concerned, I like to tell a story. I don't like anything to be obvious and I think there should always be an element of surprise about the way one dresses."
On moving into China: "When we built the train for my last show, I said to [LVMH CEO Bernard] Arnault, 'If we are going to take anything to China, then this is it.'"
Photo: Marc Jacobs at his Fall 2012 runway show for Louis Vuitton.
Maxime Simoens mightnot have gotten the top job at Dior, but a recent cash infusion from Dior and LVMH owner Bernard Arnault should be a comforting consolation prize.
Arnault is reported to have purchased a stake in Simoens's eponymous two-year-old fashion label. The size of Arnault's stake in the business is unknown, but his investment indicates that he wants to keep tabs on Simoens. At 27, Simeons is so well-regarded in the French design world that he was widely rumored to be in the running to replace John Galliano at Dior. Until recently, Simoens was also the creative director of French label Leonard, but he left that post earlier this month — which made many believe that he would in fact take over for Galliano. It was announced shortly afterward that the job went to Raf Simons.
But just because Simoens isn't at Dior now doesn't mean he won't be in the future. A source suggested to WWD that LVMH may be interested in parlaying Simeons's talent into a future role at one of its bigger fashion houses, which include Givenchy, Louis Vuitton, and Fendi, among others.
The last time Dior bought a stake in a smaller fashion company was 2009, when it acquired 49 percent of Edun, the eco-friendly line founded by U2 frontman Bono.
A look at highlights from Simoens's past collections in the gallery.
Photo: Maxime Simoens takes a bow at a presentation of his clothing in Singapore, October 2011.
>> All of today's news, here in our daily roundup.
>> Marc Jacobs, long the favorite to take over at Dior, may not be headed to the house after all. Talks between the two parties have once again halted, WWD reports, and Dior has stepped up both the pace and depth of negotiations with other designers — Alexander Wang, Raf Simons, and Jason Wu, in particular. Riccardo Tisci is also still in the mix, but given his strong momentum at Givenchy, is viewed as unlikely to be appointed.
Although last month, talks between Jacobs and Dior were said to be progressing — Bernard Arnault reportedly flew into Manhattan to meet with Jacobs — and there was no explosive breakdown, Arnault and Dior recently decided to move onto another scenario — in part because Jacobs requested that he take his Vuitton design team to Dior, which would leave Vuitton without creative support, and Phoebe Philo, the preferred candidate to take over at Vuitton, reportedly prefers to continue at Celine.
The Dior search is said to be focused on finding a designer — young or mature — with an affinity and respect for the brand's glamorous DNA, and a vision for taking it forward, post-Galliano. However, one source told WWD: “It is not impossible that [Arnault] resumes his talks with Marc.”
