Far from the Madding Crowd
Style guru SOFIA A SUÁREZ analyses the recent rise of attention-shy fashion designers
“When a tree falls in a lonely forest, and no animal is nearby to hear it, does it make a sound?” Physicists Charles Riborg Mann and George Ransom Twiss (after philosopher George Berkeley) Fashion is an absurd place to attempt a metaphysical thought experiment, but the new class of spotlight-shunning fashion designers have had me thinking about this famous quote. Simplistically, does observation affect outcome? I wonder how this quiet new generation might change the industry and the clothes we wear.
In the late 1990s, head designers at venerable maisons seemed to burst from behind the cutting room doors, gaining unprecedented fame in their own right. Of course, we have had Karl Lagerfeld at Chanel since 1983, not to mention his work with Chloé and Fendi before that, but he was the exception, not the rule. Grand old labels took on designers as bylines. We came to know them as Gucci by Tom Ford (1994 to 2004), and Louis Vuitton by Marc Jacobs (1997 to 2014). Not by coincidence, the logos became larger, louder and a defining design element of the era. Of course, there was also Christian Dior by John Galliano (1996 to 2011), who sadly crashed out of favour in dramatic fashion after a drunken, antiSemitic rant in a Paris bistro – in Le Marais, no less.
How many people could tell you the names of designers behind the labels today? It would come as no surprise if they knew that Chloé, for example, was designed by Stella McCartney (1997 to 2001). They might even be aware that the position was then taken by her design assistant Phoebe Philo (2001 to 2006), who famously went on to supercharge Céline from 2008 to the powerhouse that it is today. But who can name Chloé’s creative director since 2011?
It’s Clare Waight Keller. That you may not have heard of her doesn’t indicate a lack of talent on her part. Like so many résumés today, hers is dotted with stints at other companies, such as Calvin Klein, Gucci and Pringle of Scotland. Another prime example comes with the recent appointment of the new artistic director for Hermès, Nadège Vanhee-Cybulski, the previous design director for The Row, who has also worked for Maison Martin Margiela and under Phoebe Philo at Céline. You may not have heard of them, but the industry has – for many years.
Brands, especially those owned by conglomerates, aren’t necessarily looking out for design stars to pump up their logos. Why would they expose themselves to that kind of risk any more? Tragic events such as the Galliano incident and, worse, Alexander McQueen’s suicide, have brought a period of introspection. After all, only Sarah Burton, McQueen’s long-time friend and co-worker, could have taken on his legacy after he died. Indeed, hiring from the inside seems to have become de rigueur. Frida Giannini was an accessories designer for Gucci before she took on ready-to-wear and eventually rose to creative director in 2006. Similarly, when Balmain needed a new creative director in 2011, it appointed its womenswear designer, Olivier Rousteing.
Maybe the best indicator of where we’re headed comes from Raf Simons, who took on the reins at Dior in 2012 after Galliano’s departure. Quiet by nature and in design, the Belgian designer could not be more different from his predecessor. As a student and young designer, he was associated with the avant-garde Antwerp circle known to admire visionaries such as Martin Margiela. By 2012, he had already quietly built an illustrious career and an international reputation with his eponymous label launched in 1995, followed by the Raf by Raf Simons brand. Known more for his pared-back, cerebral design than the flamboyant embellishments of Galliano, it made perfect sense when Simons was named creative director at Jil Sander in 2005. But when Dior hired him, there were still multiple voices asking, “Who?”
Two years later, Dior is, by all accounts, a commercial success. Simons has revitalised the brand and maintained the heritage set by monsieur Christian Dior himself, who was also, in fact, often described as shy and private. How refreshing in an age of baring all on social media and reality TV. Could it be that we are entering an era when substance is valued above all else? Where designers can create without the pressures of celebrity and being watched every second of the day? Looks good to me.