I am commenting on Fabio Becheri post (link in comments)
No doubt, Mr. Arnault is a visionary. He was able to build the largest fashion empire in the world after investing in LVMH and eventually securing control of the company. Currently, LVMH controls around 60 subsidiaries that manage 75 luxury brands.
However, the industry is always on the move, and the people who support Mr. Arnault are his loyal employees and his children (maybe a little far from reality, just a little). The desire to be a supercurrent does not always result in success. Virgil's presence in fashion gave the illusion that high fashion can function properly on a designer's social skills versus design and experience.
When the GIVENCHY job became available, it went to Matthew Williams, who had no women's RTW experience. Even looking at the first (black and white) picture of Matthew in front of the Givenchy atelier employees, it was obvious that this idea was not going to last.
The media specialist Camille Miceli (Pucci Group), who worked with Raf Simons at Dior overseeing jewelry, also has no RTW experience. Some would say that clothes are not a focus for commercial brands, but runways are still important.
In the case of Fendi (as Mr. Becheri mentioned), things are even more confusing. Despite popular belief, the RTW during Karl Lagerfeld's tenure was not successful. If not for the Baguette and Peekaboo bags, the furs were still the only desirable items from Fendi.
The situation after Karl Lagerfeld is even more puzzling. The first couture collection from Kim Jones (again, it was a COUTURE collection from a designer who had never designed women's wear) was so bad (all those mother-of-the-bride dresses and copies of Romeo Gigli's earnings) that it was painful to watch. Later on, the collections became more focused (probably real women's wear designers got involved), but it still didn't mean much. It is a confusing "group" - the Fendi family and Mr. Jones.
However, I want to mention that whoever is in charge of special projects and Asian PR is doing a great job. Fendi secures the biggest stars of the Korean Drama world, such as Min-Ho and Song Hye-Kyo. Contrary to the usual ambassadors' looks (it's difficult to understand why samples are not properly tailored when given to Asian celebs), Song Hye-Kyo looks fabulous in Fendi, and this alone, I am sure, contributes to the South Korean business for the brand.
Another example is the collaboration with Shanghai-based multimedia artist Oscar Wong, who has been working with Fendi since 2018 for the 10th anniversary of the house’s iconic Peekaboo bag, continuing with the Fendidi family, a quartet of pandas for Fendi, in 2019, etc.
So, if the brand figures out who should take the lead as a creative director/designer and keeps its special project team, we are in business.
visual stylist at Saks Fifth Ave.
4moThe collection was wonderful❤️