One of the biggest stories of 2023 was luxury’s shifting fortunes. At the beginning of last year, the sector was still riding high following several pandemic years of big spending. However, change was already in the air. Gucci, Chloé, Ann Demeulemeester, Dunhill, Alexander McQueen, Tod’s, Rochas, Blumarine, Bally, Hervé Léger, Fiorucci and Tom Ford all got new creative and artistic directors. Meanwhile, growth stagnated toward the end of the year as companies including Burberry, Kering, Richemont and LVMH reported weak earnings.
As 2024 gets underway, many newly appointed designers will debut first collections for their respective labels, and others will get the chance to build on what they started in 2023. But for a few brands, there’s still some uncertainty as the top spots remain empty.
Moschino
Jeremy Scott left Moschino in March 2023 after a decade with the brand. The position at the Aeffe-owned house remained vacant until October, when the company announced the appointment of Davide Renne, who had previously served as head designer of womenswear at Gucci. However, Renne died on Nov. 1, just 10 days after officially starting the position. His first collection for the Italian house was set to debut during the fall-winter 2024 shows at Milan Fashion Week in February 2024. In the meantime, the in-house design team released a pre-fall collection in December highlighting archival elements from the brand’s 40-year history. A new creative director has not been named.
Lanvin
Bruno Sialelli exited Lanvin in April 2023 after four years with the company, and his departure marked a new direction for the company. The house appointed musician Future as the first guest creative director of its new Lanvin Lab incubator project, and also launched a new leather goods and accessories division. However, a permanent hire has not been named. In December, Lanvin Group’s board announced that Joann Cheng, the group’s founding chairman and CEO, was exiting the company, and at the time, Cheng hinted a new creative director was on the way.
“With the recent successful launch of the first Lanvin Lab collection, the appointment last week of the new CEO at Sergio Rossi and the imminent announcement of a new Creative Director at Lanvin, I am pleased to be stepping away from the group, with a clear creative direction set, and all the building blocks in place for the next phase of growth,” Cheng said in the release.
Supreme
Denim Tears founder Tremaine Emory resigned as creative director at Supreme in August after two seasons with the VF Corp.-owned brand. At the time, Emory’s posts on Instagram said he left “because of systemic racial issues,” particularly stemming from a canceled collaboration with artist Arthur Jafa. Although rumors have swirled in the interim regarding a possible replacement, no announcement has been made. However, VF has had other problems to grapple with. In mid-October, activist firm Engaged Capital called the company’s $2.1 billion acquisition of Supreme in 2020 “the culmination of a flawed strategy” that expanded its debt, and referred to former VF CEO’s six-year tenure at the company as a “death star.” At the end of October, the company reported a 2% earnings dip and in December, approximately 500 employees were laid off as part of a turnaround plan aimed at trimming $300 million in expenses.
Givenchy
On Dec. 1, WWD and multiple other news agencies reported that Givenchy creative director Matthew M. Williams would step down on Jan. 1. Williams’ exit comes after three years with the LVMH-owned fashion house, and his final showing was a pre-fall 2024 collection revealed in early December. No announcement has been made regarding a replacement, and the company’s official website still listed Williams as Givenchy’s creative director as of press time. However, LVMH’s appointment of Pharell Williams as its creative director of Louis Vuitton menswear may indicate that the French conglomerate is willing to take personnel chances and try something new.
