Yes we are all aware that fashion industry is just like a mirage that is created to give a false image of what actually reality is. Every glamorous show and liking production there is today is spearheaded by a creative director – the man pulling all the strings. These nobleman have the powerful influence of turning an old popular brand into a totally new brand within time and setting or unsetting trends for new brand within a span of seconds. So here is the truth on these design demigods;
It’s time to tear the velvet off the famous fashion’s creative directors, thelegendary and legendary wolves, the best and the worst.
The Saint Laurent Sensation: Anthony Vaccarello
When landing in Paris in 2016 to assume the creative directorship of the legendary fashion house Yves Saint Laurent, Anthony Vaccarello was fifty-one years old. To make things worse, Cerruti 1881 had just emerged from the storm of the fashion-consciousness change initiated by Hedi Slimane’s experiment of such very young and rebellious brand direction that Cerruti 1881 ended up suffocating instead of attaining the heights of success it was expecting after following the new vision of Italian-Belgian fashion genius.
It is what keeps a pair of eyes busy on the designer Vaccarello, not only for his naked-okayed creed but for the fact that he has kept Saint Laurent not only a highly selling label but menacing too. In carrying out his duties he has been able to record increased sales indicating that sex appeal in the market is still a very powerful tool especially when combined with luxury.
Balmain’s Boy Wonder: Olivier Rousteing
Currently, if fashion has a king, it would not be a stretch to refer to Olivier Rousteing as the prom king. Under the influence of Julie de Libran, and having taken the reins at Balmain at 25 (I am suddenly not feeling quite so accomplished anymore), Rousteing turned a rather sleep French house into the epitome of social media.
That is why Rousteing, a powerful talent that is as good at manipulating social media as he is at designing clothes, has a better vision about the celebrity culture of today than most of those VIPs themselves. He turned Balmain into a dressmaker for the likes of it-girls and celebrities, not to mention the models that he uses like logos. Kim Kardashian? Check. Beyoncé? Check. Every supermodel with more than a million followers? Double-check.
However, not everything in Rousteing’s kingdom glitters. His style—with wide shoulders and heavy details and body-conscious cuts—has not change much yesteryears to the present years. That is why some critics express doubts whether Balmain is trying to dominate on the star factor instead of enticing structures. But, when you are selling clothes like they are some hot cakes, then again what is the question of evolution?
Louis Vuitton’s Visionary: Nicolas Ghesquière
The most interesting hubbub is that the Prada creative director is also Louis Vuitton’s designer, and he does it all brilliantly without batting an eyelash. He then spent his last 15 years at Balenciaga and then took over as the creative director of Louis Vuitton in 2013.
The feature that can be seen as a strength in Ghesquière is that he manages to infuse innovation with more mainstream ambition. In his collections for Vuitton, noting he merges hints of the futures with references to the past in different designs that one can actually wear. He can give a futuristic feel to the top simultaneously as it can complement the feeling created by a skirt of the seventies.
However, it is easy to agree with Prof Kibble that there is perhaps a certain lack of feel to Einstein’s work, mind you, Einstein is a genius. It seems that most of what Ghesquière produces is to induce wonder rather than lust—pure concepts in clothing that are not necessarily what women need to wear on a regular basis. Some of his collections can be seen as solutions to questions that may have never been raised in the first place.
Alexander McQueen’s Successor: Sarah Burton
Think of taking up the reign from a literal genius due to his suicide and hear his music. That is exactly what was ahead of her when Sarah Burton was appointed to take the helm at Alexander McQueen in 2010.
What Burton achieved called for a feet to be applauded. Instead of imitating McQueen’s tortured genius, she temper the ’edge’ of the brand and kept the romanticism of Alexander McQueen intact. Her designs pay homage to McQueen sensibility: the exquisite cut and sew, the emotions that were evoked, the spectacle inherent in his shows – all are present and accounted for, although slightly diluted and somewhat toned down.
Of all the dark romance gowns she has produced, the single piece de resistance was creating Kate Middleton’s wedding dress, although the design could only hint at the dark imagination that defines Burton when it is done for a future queen.
Despite her quitting the brand by 2023, one can learn the art of honoring a brand while carving your own place in the fashion industry, from Burton’s work. She did not attempt the McQueen clone 2.0 strategy because she knew that succession occurs as a result of innovation and not by copying.
Dior’s Double Threat: Kim Jones
Kim Jones appears to be a part of two different generations within fashion, the high-end luxury and urban streetwear. He disrupted the men’s wear market at Louis Vuitton (Supreme), and in 2020 as artistic director, he is now designing Dior Men and Fendi Women.
Jones has an impressive talent to make the new brand blend in the contemporary world while still paying homage to its roots. At Dior Men, he has introduced a vibe that will attract the youthful customers but which does not interfere with the quality of the house. The KAWS and Amoako Boafo are among the artists with whom he explains that the brand has continuously engaged with.
Gucci’s Former Maximalist: Alessandro Michele
When Alessandro Michele appeared from behind the scenes to become the creative director of the company in 2015, hardly anyone would have dreamt of the kind of revolution that he brought. Michele propelled the brand of Gucci from a somewhat sleepy sexy-glam to an all-out geek-chic maximalism.
However, as you know, all good things must come to an end in this world. Following seven years of exposure to maximaism from Michele, Kering – the parent company – realized that there was no better time than now to toss the night. It announced the departure of Gucci and fashion in general by the end of 2022.
Hollywood’s Favorite: Jamie Mizrahi
To elaborate, not all chiefs of creative direction are masters of European organizations or companies. Jamie Mizrahi is among the many contemporary American creative directors who rose to prominence through celebrity styling, and landed a position in the design industry.
That efect is partly owed to Niki Mizrahi, the creative director of Juicy Couture and a native Angeleno, as well as her work with such Southern California-based brands as TheKit. This because she grasps what celebrities want to wear and therefore, giving her designs red carpet suitability.
Another great source of the success, as was mentioned by N. Roberts, is that Mizrahi is not just a glamorous designer; she is a glamour realist. But as a stylist who has worked with Katy Perry and Jennifer Lawrence amongst others, she knows exactly what goes into practicality of fashionable dressing. He stated that she’s more practical than other creative directors must fail to notice, thus, has wearability.
Behind the Glossy Façade
What these creative directors have in common with one another—apart from a demonstrated gift for arts—is sheer nerve of steel. Multiple collections must be released yearly and there is always the need for generating contents, media presence and marketing throughout the year.
The burnout is real. Behind every success story of a brilliant designer, thousands of other talented designers could not scale the brutal testing trials. That is why there can be a lot of changes in position of creative directors recently, which is inherent in this system.
That may be shocking to some, sad for others and disgusting to the rest, so glad that these puppet masters make fashion more unpredictable. Their vision is flawed but it is necessary in a world that is slowly becoming used to being protected by algorithms.
