News broke last Thursday that Raf Simons was bidding adieu to Christian Dior. In the official release, Simons cited personal reasons for his sudden departure, mentioning a desire to focus on other interests in his life, not just his own brand, but “the passions” that drive him “outside his work.” Elsewhere, he lamented a lack of incubation time for ideas. In the intervening days, the industry has come together to decry the relentless cycle of fashion shows and the inordinate demands placed on designers—and, perhaps unaware of the irony, to guess who will step in to fill Simons’s shoes. The pace may be unsustainable, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a Pre-Fall collection to complete. (Had Simons remained in his post, he likely would’ve taken that collection on the road in early December; last year he brought it to Tokyo.) And don’t forget, there are also couture and ready-to-wear collections to do.
Not even the LVMH brass has the luxury of time in this situation. Now, as complaints about the fashion system grow ever louder, and in the wake of two major designer departures in four years, the question begs asking: What if nobody wants the Dior job? Lanvin’s Alber Elbaz, whose years of experience at Lanvin and flair for a hyper-feminine flourish make him a top contender for the position, took to the stage at the Fashion Group International’s Night of Stars last week to rail against an industry that has turned couturiers into image-makers. That doesn’t mean he wouldn’t jump at the chance to do couture, but it does suggest he’d have caveats. As would his competition. Phoebe Philo, whose name has come up as an inside-LVMH choice, is keen to spend more time at home in London. The Dior gig would seem to make that impossible. Other rumored contenders like Jonathan Anderson and outliers such as Chitose Abe of Sacai have their own brands to manage.
Pace aside, Dior remains the plummiest of plum assignments; only the Chanel gig is more illustrious. That means that there will be interest in the job. If there are any prerequisites for the Dior post, the last month (which saw not just Simons exit Dior, but also Alexander Wang leave Balenciaga) has taught us that a willingness to put other obligations on hold, even a successful eponymous brand, should be at the top of the list. At least part of why Givenchy’s Riccardo Tisci, Vuitton’s Nicolas Ghesquière, and Valentino’s Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli have found success is that they’ve devoted themselves completely to their brands.
Creating six collections a year, even with the two design teams that Dior established while Simons was in-house, is yeoman’s work. Considering that the amount of merchandise required to fill Dior’s global flagships and shop-in-shops will only keep growing—to succeed, after all, businesses must expand—perhaps the solution to Dior’s current situation is to be found within the structure of the creative director job itself.
What if, rather than six collections, whomever replaces Simons at Dior is responsible for just four? Marc Jacobs deputized his right-hand woman Julie de Libran to design and host the pre-season shows at Louis Vuitton. It was a perk for De Libran, who leveraged the exposure into a creative directorship of her own at Sonia Rykiel, and it freed up Jacobs from the responsibility of an additional collection and the obligation of summertime travel. Dior could do something similar with its pre-season collections, or, more radically, it could consider hiring a separate person altogether for haute couture. After all, a designer who can reliably turn out commercially friendly ready-to-wear and accessories isn’t often gifted with the same ability to create the flights of fancy that couture enthusiasts long for. Dior has long managed two creative directors, one for women’s and one for men’s. Why not make it three?
In the end, Dior will probably find a designer who will sign on for the whole shebang. Then the question will become, will we be right back where we are now in another three years?
Watch the Christian Dior Spring 2016 ready-to-wear show:
The post Too Big to Succeed? How Dior Could Make Its Next Designer Hire Stick appeared first on Vogue.