Luxury fashion houses enter new cycle

With the past few years seeing the fashion industry taking ultra cautionary measures to protect their business’ and survive luxury doom, it looks like the tide is turning as the high end of the market starts a growth cycle – which will no doubt trickle

down to the high street.

One obvious catalyst for the big shuffle is, no doubt, the firing of John Galliano at the top of Dior, just days before Paris fashion week. With economic downturn, times have been too unpredictable to think about hiring and firing lead designers, but now doors are revolving again.

Whilst Bernard Arnault, head of LVMH, said that the brand aim to take their time finding a replacement and would only make a decision if he felt a ‘strong conviction’ behind it, other designers are making swifter moves. Think Balmain, Chloe, Emanuel Ungaro.

Christophe Decarnin was replaced at Balmain by his young assistant, Chloe outed Hannah Macgibbon, due to flagging sales, for Claire Waight Keller and Ungaro hurriedly got rid of Lindsay Lohan as creative director, who was ruining brand image.

Other houses which look to follow suit include Gianfranco Ferrre, Trussardi, Azzaro. Legendary designer, Diane Von Furstenberg, speaking at the Reuters Global Fashion and Luxury Summit, said ‘When you hire a creative director it is like marriage, it is a lottery.’

It’s been widely reported that Dior no longer felt the spectacle style collections of John Galliano were appropriate in times of consumer big budgeting, with buyers no longer interested in spending their bucks on ripped T-shirts bearing big name logos.

With minimalist, logo-less, unfussy fashion from the likes of Celine and Bottega Veneta quietly achieving soaring sales and respect from fashion insiders and consumers alike, other houses are looking to cash in on the ‘Phoebe Philo’ effect – answering buyers post-crisis demands for pure, simple and creative designs – and most notably no celebrity campaigning.

And with fashion having got so fast, so trend led and celebrity driven,
it’s a great sign creatively and economically that a new cycle has started.