Giles Deacon (image courtesy of indyposted.com)
Olivier Theyskens (image courtesy of honeymag.com)
Christophe Lemaire (image courtesy of sofeminine.co.uk)
Sarah Burton (image courtesy of smh.com.au)
This past week has been an interesting week for certain fashion houses who named new creative directors. The first of many announcements came on Tuesday when the struggling Parisian fashion house of
Emanuel Ungaro named British designer
Giles Deacon as its new designer, replacing the failed duo of Estrella Archs and "creative advisor" Lindsay Lohan who were named for the same post less than a year ago. The annoucement has been well received since his namesake line has devoted followers like Kylie Minogue and Daphne Guinness, so this could be the morale boost the fashion house needs. Deacon will present his first collection with Ungaro this October for Spring 2011.
+
Fans of haute couture extraordinaire designer
Olivier Theyskens will be happy to know that he has just announced his collaboration with
Theory for a capsule collection that will feature his signature aesthetics for Spring 2011. No other details were released on the collection, so we will await to see what is in store for Theory.
+
One major announcement that rocked the fashion world though was the exit of
Jean Paul Gaultier out of
Hermès after seven years of breathing new life on the womenswear side of the fashion house, which is favored by the old money set. Gaultier's post will be filled oddly enough by
Christophe Lemaire, who is the creative director of Lacoste. So why did Pierre-Alexis Dumas, the general artistic director of Hermès, make such an unconventional choice? Because Hermès is one of the few fashion houses in existence that is family-run, and does not need to answer to any stockholders and investors. In additon to this, Dumas wanted to take Hermès into a new direction - chic sportswear that serves a function, which he says was part of the Hermès heritage in the 1920s. Gaultier and his predecessor, Martin Margiela took Hermès into an avant garde direction with pieces that incorporated fine tailoring. Gaultier will present his last collection for Hermès this October for Spring 2011, and Lemaire's collection will debut in March for Fall 2011. It should be interesting to see how he combines functionality and luxury in his collections with the brand.
+
A few months back we reported that rumours were going around that Gareth Pugh would become the creative director of
Alexander McQueen. All those rumours have been silenced since Gucci Group announced yesterday that McQueen's new creative director would be
Sarah Burton, a veteran at Alexander McQueen's design studio who started working for him back in 1996 when she was still a student at the Central Saint Martins school in London. Burton was McQueen's first assistant up to his death, and always had an intimate relationship with the brand, including working closely with pattern makers and technical people who produced work for the brand. This is very encouraging since Burton proves to be qualified by her intimate knowledge of the brand's heritage and craftsmanship. We await to see what her work will look like for the Spring 2011 collection!
