The Grass is Greener

The fashion business is constantly affected by changes in artistic leadership, as creative directors come and go fairly regularly. But over the past 12 to 15 months the pace of turnover has been picking up, especially among luxury labels. Members of the fashion press have described 2024 as a record year for new creative directors in the industry. And the turmoil is continuing, and even intensifying, into 2025 so far.  

Many reasons are behind the moves, including retirements, poor financial performance, and greener pastures, depending on the situation. These representative examples from the past six months give a sense of the breadth of the trend: 

• Jonathan Anderson announced earlier this week that he was departing as creative director of LVMH’s Loewe, after 11 years in the position. His time was characterized by both critical acclaim and strong profit and revenue results. 

• Versace hired Dario Vitale a week ago as its new creative director, as Donatella Versace stepped down from that role, which she had held since 1997, to become chief brand ambassador. Vitale was formerly design and image director at Prada-owned Miu Miu. 

• OTB Group’s Jil Sander named Simone Bellotti, most recently with Bally, its new creative director last week, succeeding Luke and Lucie Meier, who had jointly held the role until they left the company by mutual agreement a couple of weeks earlier. Bellotti has also worked at Gianfranco Ferré, Bottega Veneta, Gucci, and Dolce & Gabbana over his career. 

• Kering’s Gucci named Demna as artistic director about a week ago, replacing Sabat De Sarno, who was let go last month after three seasons. The label is looking to see a turnaround after two years of plummeting results. Reversing this trend is critical as the label accounts for about half of Kering’s sales and a third of its profits. Demna will begin his new role in July. 

• Balenciaga lost its artistic director when Demna, who had held that position since 2015, left for Gucci. His show at Paris Fashion Week this month was his last for the brand. 

• Aeffe Group’s Alberta Ferretti label hired Lorenzo Serafini as its new creative director three weeks ago, succeeding the founder, Alberta Ferretti, who is transitioning out of the creative role but remains an Aeffe vice president. Serafini, who has been with Roberto Cavalli and Dolce & Gabbana over his career, was most recently with another Aeffe brand, Philosophy. The latter will be integrated into the Alberta Ferretti label. 

• Last month, LVMH’s Dior saw Kim Jones depart after seven years as artistic director of the brand’s Dior Homme label. Jones previously held posts at other LVMH businesses including heading the design direction of Fendi’s women’s collections—a role he just left in October 2024—and Louis Vuitton menswear.

• Maison Margiela, another OTB Group brand, hired Glenn Martens last month as its creative director, replacing John Galliano, who spent a decade in the role before leaving in December. Martens spent 11 years with the now-shuttered Y/Project and remains creative director of OTB’s Diesel label, where he has been since 2020, along with his new duties. 

• Proenza Schouler announced in January that its co-founders, Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez, were leaving as creative directors of the company. They had been rumored to be in line to step in as creative directors of Loewe, but nothing has been announced as of press time, nor has their successor at Proenza Schouler. 

• Dries Van Noten, owned by Puig, announced in December that Julian Klausner would become creative director for both the men’s and women’s collections, replacing Van Noten himself, who had said last June that he was giving up the title. The company promoted from within, as Klausner had been a long-time member of the design team. 

• Phillip Lim left in November as creative director of his 3.1 Phillip Lim label, which he cofounded in 2005 with Wen Zhou. Wen Zhou is now the sole owner. No successor has been named yet for the creative director position. 

This carousel of creative directors has an impact on the brands’ respective licensees, of course. While most artistic leaders new to their positions stress their intention to carry on the legacy of the creative directors that have gone before, they also bring their own sensibility to the role. This inevitably leads to changes in design direction and perhaps business strategy—sometimes quickly and sometimes gradually over time—that are felt across all the partners’ businesses. 

A note that we recently posted our detailed summary of trends observed at New York Toy Fair earlier this month. It includes some insights that may be of interest to the licensing business as a whole, beyond the just toy industry. You can read the coverage here.