the endless game of musical chairs in global fashion

In a context of recession for the big houses, the transfer window for artistic directors has never been so hectic, while the Spring-Summer 2025 Fashion Weeks from New York to Paris, via London and Milan, follow one another in September.

Who will be the next artistic director of Chanel? Where will Pierpaolo Piccioli go after leaving Valentino? From New York Fashion Week to London, today in Milan, tomorrow in Paris, these questions fuel the soap opera of “fashion game” global.

Resignations and appointments punctuated the year 2024: Pierpaolo Piccioli left Valentino in March and the Roman house appointed Alessandro Michele as its creative director, whose show scheduled for September 29 in Paris is one of the most anticipated. At Chanel, Virginie Viard, who succeeded Karl Lagerfeld after his death in 2019, announced her departure in June, leaving a key position vacant. Rumors are rife and the name of Simon Porte Jacquemus is mentioned as a candidate to take over the house of Coco. The same month, Dries Van Noten, the cult couturier from Antwerp, bowed out for his last show at the helm of his eponymous house. Recently, the suspense surrounding Givenchy, orphaned since the departure of Matthew Williams in January, ended with the announcement of the arrival of Sarah Burton, a transfer from the English house Alexander McQueen, where she had been in charge for more than thirteen years.

As a result, at Milan Fashion Week, some brands are absent from the catwalks this season: Blumarine has just appointed Georgian David Koma as its head, Tom Ford, after the departure of Peter Hawkings in July, appointed Haider Ackermann, the darling of stars Timothée Chalamet and Kylie Jenner, at the beginning of September.

Creative directors who are let go by fashion houses are often subject to one- to two-year non-compete agreements, preventing them from immediately taking over the reins of a house. These periods are generously compensated, but nothing prevents their new employer from covering this cost to shorten their time to take up their position.

In this context, rumors are flying. How much longer will Kim Jones remain at the head of design at Fendi? What about John Galliano, whose contract at Maison Margiela is coming to an end and whom some see at Dior or Fendi?

“Behind these announcements, there are humans, there are destinies. There are the lives of people who give their intelligence, their vision, their time, their passion to houses under market pressure, who want immediate results, in record time. Artistic directors must make the numbers in one season, two at the most, and if the results are not there, on to the next one!” observes Alessia Pellarini, creative consultant for brands and founder of The AP Archive, an archive of key pieces from the history of fashion.

“We must be aware that this work takes time, requires understanding the brand, its heritage, its history, to offer something new, of course, but without turning everything upside down. This short-term vision to meet market demands only lowers the cultural quality of the offer.”she laments. She left in 2023 the direction of the Fendi style office, a position she held for eleven years, working with Karl Lagerfeld and then Kim Jones.

Is she therefore legitimate to take over the artistic direction of a major house? “Yes, except that I am a woman! Even though I have all the qualities and the perfect CV, in this game of musical chairs, we are still forced to note that the typical profile continues to be a white European man!”

The counterattack seems to be coming where it was least expected, with major designers turning to more mainstream brands. Clare Waight Keller, formerly of Chloé and then Givenchy, has taken over as artistic director of the Japanese giant Uniqlo. And Zara announced a capsule collection in early October created by Stefano Pilati, former artistic director of Saint Laurent and then Zegna.