As luxury goods continue to slump, luxury brands continue to reshape their creative and executive leadership in hopes of finding a way out of the spiral of declining sales.
The latest brand to replace the head creative role is Fendi. The brand announced Friday afternoon that Kim Jones will be stepping down from the brand after four years as artistic director of women’s haute couture, ready-to-wear and fur collections. A joint statement from Jones and Fendi said his work “reinvented[Fendi’s]ready-to-wear and haute couture collections, providing a comprehensive and innovative approach to fashion that constantly reinvents Fendi’s Italian canon.” ” is stated.
Jones joins several high-end creative directors and executives who have left the brand in recent months. In the past two weeks, Michael Ryder replaced Hedi Slimane at Celine and Stefano Cantino became Gucci’s new CEO. Zooming out even further, Burberry, Mulberry, Alberta Ferretti, Chanel, Missoni, Dries Van Noten, Balmain, Selfridges and Victoria Beckham have all lost or replaced creative directors or CEOs in the past six months. Some of these brands, especially Chanel, have yet to bring in a new creative director.
What’s driving this ongoing havoc? Luxury experts tell Glossy that brand leaders are fighting the ongoing industry downturn and are trying to protect their companies from the disruption impacting other industries. He said this is because he is looking for a way to escape. For example, Gucci, which accounts for more than a third of parent company Kering, has seen a significant decline in sales. In the second quarter of this year, Gucci’s sales fell by nearly 20%, putting a huge dent in Kering’s profits. Even the mighty LVMH saw sales decline in its latest earnings report.
“[The leadership change]is a macro response,” said Ian Schatzberg, founder of creative brand agency General Idea, which has worked with major luxury brands such as Prada and Louis Vuitton. . “Luxury has seen a huge rise in recent years. Now it’s cooled down. Markets like China are becoming less upscale and luxury brands are reinventing themselves to prepare for what’s next. You can see it.”
Nguyen Tran, founder and CEO of luxury brand Le Reussi, echoed similar sentiments.
“The luxury goods market has suffered from declining sales over the last year, and many brands have had to address this trend,” Tran said. “The change in leadership reflects these concerns. In this competitive space, the status quo simply isn’t an option, so brands are looking for fresh ideas and strategies to revitalize growth.”
Some in the luxury industry believe luxury brands are currently at rock bottom. Breitling CEO George Kahn said he believes China’s economic slowdown is the main cause of the luxury goods recession and expects it to recover soon. China accounted for about 16% of all luxury goods spending last year, and slowing growth in the Chinese economy has luxury investors worried about the sector’s ability to recover quickly.
“The industry has always shown resilience even in tough economic times, as demand among wealthy individuals remains strong,” said David, a branding expert who has consulted for numerous brands across the luxury goods industry.・Mr. Miskin says. “What we are experiencing is a temporary dip, not a long-term dip.”
One clear trend in the transformation of luxury leadership is the move towards more timeless styles. Celine has replaced Hedi Slimane, known for his bold and edgy take on womenswear, with Michael Ryder, a designer with a more traditional background. The same thing happened at Gucci, where Alessandro Michele’s maximalist style gave way to Sabato de Sarna’s more subdued looks.
“The pendulum is swinging back toward timelessness,” Schatzberg said. “In vibrant times, people embrace more timely styles. But we’re not in vibrant times.”
