What threatens the alliance of fashion houses and young designers
Just yesterday, the fashion industry found out about a new and ambiguous personnel reshuffle: Jonathan Anderson became the creative director of Loewe. Whether the designer is interested in re-inventing the style of an ordinary clothing brand or he wants to earn money to develop his own name - this is what our fashion editor Lisa Kologreva is trying to figure out.
In 1996, Alexander McQueen became the creative director of Givenchy. The designer turned the show of the ancient French House into the similarity of theatrical performances, which irritated the ceremonial audience. But this work gave him the opportunity to develop his brand. At that time, the huge salary of the large luxury company LVMH, the owner of Givenchy, was the only serious source of income for the Briton - where did the guy from the family of the taxi driver and teacher come from who came into the fashion industry just a few years ago and created avant-garde collections?
A similar story seems to be happening with a young Englishman, Jonathan Anderson. The former assistant stylist of Prada, who loves to dress guys in dresses, became the main designer of Loewe, another brand owned by LVMH. The appointment is quite unexpected: the Spanish brand lived thanks to the sale of fragrances and bags (such as Viktor & Rolf), and its clothing line did not stand out among competitors. By making such a serious personnel reshuffle (Stuart Weevers left Loewe), LVMH shows serious intentions regarding the future of the brand. However, a couple of days ago, the Spaniards, who are preparing to rebrand, were alluded to by the fact that their recent collaboration with Junya Watanabe.
J w anderson logo
The owner of LVMH, Bernard Arnaud, and his team definitely have a talent for choosing designers, with the advent of which the popularity of brands begins to grow in an almost geometric progression: remember the same Dior with Simons, Emilio Pucci with Dundas and Kenzo with Carol and Umberto. Therefore, the fact that Jonathan Anderson will bring Loewe to a high level, no doubt. However, whether the aesthetics of the House is close to him and whether his talent of Loewe’s DNA will eclipse is an open question. Like Alexander McQueen, Jonathan Anderson decided to get money for the development of a registered brand - so LVMH buys a small stake in J.W. Anderson. Most of the brand remains for Anderson, which is sensible and clever of him. It is better to manage your own name rather than sell it to others - this is proved by the examples of Isaac Mizrahi and Sultanna Frantsuzova.
So, the most likely development of this transaction is as follows: Jonathan Anderson updates Loewe, with the result that sales of the Spanish brand are growing, and the designer’s own brand becomes prettier day by day thanks to the money LVMH. Now the main thing for Jonathan Anderson is to get into tempo. He needs to create 12 collections per year (and he is also a Sunspel designer, which cannot be overlooked), while taking into account the wishes of fashionable political technologists. Retaining common sense will be quite difficult: for example, John Galliano and Christoph Dekarnen from Balmain did not withstand the pressure (the first was fired from Dior because of anti-Semitic statements made while intoxicated, the second is still in a psychiatric hospital). At the same time, the designer should not lose his unique vision, because to demonstrate it four times a year is much easier than 12 times, and should maintain a balance between art and business.
Now luxury companies are hunting for young and promising. LVMH also acquired part of Altuzarra from Kirkwood, and Kering was honored to buy a huge stake in Christopher Kane. Obviously, this is not done in order (well, or far from only in order) to support talents: conglomerates see huge financial potential in these names. Perhaps, Alexander Wang should be added to their company, to whom Kering entrusted Balenciaga. All the above-mentioned designers are about 30 years old, and most likely it is behind them - the future of the fashion industry. Read: it is already clear who will be the new Marc Jacobs and Carla Lagerfeld. However, let's not blame: a fresh and progressive look at the creation of clothing is only half the battle, steel nerves and the ability to generate dozens and hundreds of new ideas, without which you risk to fly out of the game or become commercial and boring, are just as important. Only a few manage to stay on top: there is a very high turnover in the fashion industry.
Loewe Campaign