The Internet has many thoughts, and on the Internet almost everyone thinks that everyone else was born with the irrevocable right to hear their opinion. So when Paloma Elsesser was named model of the year last Monday at the British Fashion Awards (the British Fashion Council’s fundraiser that would be Britain’s answer to the MET gala), high fashion Twitter (the the social network now called X that comments, criticizes and discusses fashion content) showed its discontent and declared that its winner is Anok Yai.
The American model’s year has undoubtedly been brilliant – and her career has been stellar since in 2018 she became the second black model to open a Prada show after Naomi Campbell, who had achieved it eleven years earlier – but Elsesser He has been fighting against wind, tide and changing trends for a decade in an industry that claims to be against stereotypes while continuing to live off of them.
Jonathan Anderson has also been at the helm of Loewe for ten years, and he returned home with the designer of the year award. In this time he has transformed the Spanish brand into a brand so relevant that it has become the most desired in the world in the second quarter of this year according to the Lyst report. Using the word of 2023 according to Oxford University Press, Loewe is rich in rizz today thanks to its creative director.
Among the nominees in the same category was Matthieu Blazy, from Bottega Veneta, who did not win the award, but did receive applause from social networks for his latest campaign starring A$AP Rocky and Kendall Jenner, based on images of both wearing garments and accessories from the Spring 2024 pre-collection purchased from Getty and Backgrid, that is, photographs taken by paparazzi on the street.
“Throughout history, there has always been a curious relationship between photographers and celebrities. “Even when it comes to the rights and use of photos, and the intense work of tabloids, there has always seemed to be a disconnect between famous people and the photographers who follow and film them,” the artist shared in capital letters in his social media profile. “We thought it would be cool to bridge that gap and use photos of my everyday lifestyle taken by candid photographers while I do my daily things. So this serves less as a campaign and more as a creative triad presented by Matthieu Blazy of Bottega Veneta, myself, A$AP Rocky, and the talented tabloid-style photographers involved.” Needless to say, although the photos were taken on the street, there is nothing casual about them.
The Fall 2024 collection that Balenciaga presented in Los Angeles revolved around the same phenomenon, that of celebrities, with applause that in this case resonated due to its absence. The proposal of Demna, her artistic director, no longer generates positive echoes. For some reason (weariness with the aesthetics of the 2000s, fatigue with the repetitiveness of their designs, apology for the new, etc.), on social networks he has started to receive the same treatment as a footballer when he does not score a goal. No matter how much he explained how the vision he had of Hollywood as a child living in Georgia – the same vision that once made him successful – inspired the collection, or how well the clothes that imitate Juicy Couture tracksuits and UGG boots. The public has stopped connecting with his proposal, Balenciaga has lost its cool.
From a firm that has lost relevance to another that has the opportunity to shine next year: when Givenchy announced that it will not renew the three-year contract with which it will be its creative director until December 31, Matthew M. Williams, it has opened the door to a world of possibilities and a universe of rumors. The speculations about the chair-dancing result that this change can generate place among whispers Alessandro Michele, former creative director of Gucci, at the head of Fendi; and who currently holds the positions of creative director at Fendi mujer and Dior Homme, Kim Jones, at Givenchy. What about Sarah Burton, who when she said goodbye to McQueen was emerging as the perfect successor to Williams at Givenchy? For her it would be the sewing division of the house. That Simon Porte Jacquemus shared a photo of Hubert de Givenchy’s house on the same day that the end of the firm’s relationship with his creative director was announced has not added his name to this pool. Doesn’t anyone see Jacquemus doing anything other than Jacquemus anymore?
Several CEOs will also participate in the game of chairs in 2024. As WWD announced at the beginning of this year, Sidney Toledano, CEO of LVMH, would be about to retire, and Michael Burke, who is now a strategic advisor to the president (being the president Bernard Arnault) but before that he was CEO of Louis Vuitton, becoming his successor. In Arnault’s group, there is also the unknown of his succession. Delphine, his eldest daughter, is president and CEO of Christian Dior Couture. Antoine, two years younger, is the group’s head of communications, image and environment, as well as president and CEO of Christian Dior SE (the parent company that controls LVMH). He will stop being CEO of Berluti in January 2024, but that does not mean he has done anything wrong. On the contrary: his is the merit of having gotten LVMH to sponsor the Paris Olympics.
They are followed by Alexandre, who after transforming Rimowa has tried to do the same from his position as executive vice president at Tiffany; Frederic, CEO of Tag Heuer since 2020 and Jean, who since 2021 is director of marketing and development of the Louis Vuitton watch division.
A last, but not least, move from someone with a lot of power: Kim Kardashian seems determined to take her Skims public. With an estimated valuation of 4,000 million dollars and only four years on the market, the company’s profits amounted to 500 million in 2022 and according to forecasts shared by its CEO, Jens Grede, with The New York Times, they will reach 750 in the present. Those numbers are music to the ears of any investor, but the fact that the firm depends so much on Kardashian’s image has its risks: one wrong move on the part of its creator and its value runs the risk of disappearing. If from now on we see fewer campaigns led by her and more like the one starring Ice Spice and PinkPantheress, it will not be a coincidence.
