Designer Musical Chairs: Your Cheat Sheet for Understanding Who’s Where Right Now
To bring you up to speed in the latest game of designer musical chairs, Kim Jones is leaving Louis Vuitton, Phoebe Philo has exited Céline, Nicola Formichetti has stepped down from Diesel, David Koma has departed from Mugler and Jonathan Saunders has exited Diane Von Furstenburg.
But that wasn’t all for the latest fashion house changes — Burberry announced that longtime chief creative Christopher Bailey is set to exit the brand in 2018 and Kim Jones is rumoured to be heading over. Lanvin announced little known designer Olivier Lapidus as artistic director, Paul Surridge‘s shifted to Roberto Cavalli, Clare Waight-Keller was appointment as Givenchy‘s artistic director, and Natacha Ramsay-Levi‘s moved to Chloé.
Last year, Calvin Klein Inc. put the rumours to rest: Raf Simons was officially appointed the Chief Creative Officer of the brand (Francisco Costa and Italo Zucchelli announced their departure not too long ago), which meant he will be overseeing all aspects of the brand globally (ie. Calvin Klein Collection, Calvin Klein Platinum, Calvin Klein, Calvin Klein Jeans, Calvin Klein Underwear and Calvin Klein Home). Meanwhile, Dior finally announced its new creative director and it’s none other than Maria Grazia Chiuri. The former Valentino designer, who spent 17 years with the brand, left her artistic partner of eight years, Pierpaolo Piccioli, and is the first-ever female to be appointed the role at Dior. Cue Beyoncé‘s “Run the World.”
In the past couple of years, we’ve seen a lot of changes and new faces (Alessandro Michele for Gucci, Demna Gvasalia for Balenciaga, to name a few). So if you, like us, are starting to get very confused as to who’s where at the moment, consider this your go-to fashion designer cheat sheet.
Photography via Instagram/nramsaylevi
Fashion Designer Musical Chairs
Chloé Current designer: Natacha Ramsay-Levi (2017-present) Preceded by: Clare Waight Keller (2011-present); Hannah MacGibbon; Phoebe Philo; Stella McCartney ; Karl Lagerfeld Founded by: Gaby Aghion and Jacques Lenoir Established in: 1952
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