There has been an unprecedented turnover at the top of fashion houses over the past year or so, with a game of musical chairs reshaping the industry at speed.
The recent run of fashion weeks has finally brought the moments of truth – the debuts of the industry’s newly appointed creative heads.
In Milan last week, Maria Grazia Chiuri – previously of Dior – took the stage amid intense scrutiny, as editors, buyers and critics weighed not just the clothes, but the direction they signalled for Fendi’s future.
Her collection was dubbed “less I, more us”, the phrase stamped in alternating Italian and English along the runway.
The message was thus clear – Chiuri intends her tenure at Fendi to be defined by collaboration rather than radical overhaul.
Feminine flourishes of tulle and lace were set against stark tailoring, while the reintroduction of fur, long absent from the runway, nodded to the house’s origins as a furrier.
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Jonathan Anderson similarly made a much-talked-about debut for Dior at Paris Haute Couture Week in January.
He is the first designer at the house since Christian Dior himself to oversee all fashion lines – women’s, men’s and couture, as well as accessories.
His couture creations paid tribute to John Galliano, who led the fashion house from 1996 to 2011.
Days before the show, Anderson posted an Instagram photo of a small bouquet of cyclamens, describing it as an ode to the designer who inspires him.
“Last year, just before my first women’s show for Dior, the first person I wanted to show the collection to was John Galliano,” he said in the caption.
“John very kindly came with two posies of cyclamen tied with black silk ribbons and a bag of cakes and sweets from Tesco for the team. The most beautiful flowers I‘d ever seen.”
Anderson’s couture creations for Dior were widely praised. They drew heavily from the past, with tributes offered to collaborators he had worked with over the years.
Cyclamens were also woven into the designs – one striking example being a pair of sculptural floral pom-pom earrings.
His last role was as creative director of Loewe, a much younger brand by comparison.
As such, he is seen as stepping into a house with a far longer, more codified heritage – one where the weight of history is both an inspiration and an expectation, and where reinvention must be carefully balanced with reverence.
His previous Dior debuts – menswear and womenswear last year – were met with conflicting reviews. Some fashion critics praised his designs, while others said he completely changed the fashion house's aesthetic.
That same month in Paris, Matthieu Blazy unveiled his first couture collection for Chanel.
It was described as a joyful continuation of the direction he set in his earlier womenswear and Metiers D’Art outings.
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Blazy arrived from Bottega Veneta, where he spent four years transforming the label into a cool standard-bearer of quiet luxury, and previously honed his couture credentials at Maison Margiela, designing its Artisanal line.
His couture show ended with a standing ovation from an audience that included Anna Wintour, Nicole Kidman and Dua Lipa.
Lighter and more contemporary than some of Chanel’s previous couture offerings, Blazy’s designs were widely seen as a breath of fresh air.
Quoted in The Guardian, he said he wanted his first haute couture show to feel light and joyful: “An adventure... I think the world is harsh.”
Among other anticipated debuts were Demna at Gucci and Meryll Rogge at Marni.
Demna's showing received mixed reactions, with critics divided over his reinterpretation of Gucci’s maximalist heritage.
Some praised the daring silhouettes and unexpected layering, while others felt the collection strayed too far from the house’s signature opulence.
Meanwhile, Rogge’s collection was celebrated for its whimsical prints and fresh approach to tailoring, signaling a confident, contemporary direction for the label.
The luxury industry has been dogged by concerns of a slowdown for several seasons now, and the appointment of new creative directors is widely seen as a strategy to reignite momentum.
