Luxury fashion houses live and breathe by the reception that their Creative/Artistic Directors receive from the fashion journalists, influencers and high rollers each time they produce a collection for the catwalk. They are the story tellers – the ones who are translating the message of their luxury brand to the world, setting trends that will trickle down through the media before reaching the high street which is where the majority of people will access a version of those designs. And, alongside their role as idea generators, an Artistic Director is the face of the house they represent during their tenure.
Often, they can transcend the position and become superstars in their own right: Karl Lagerfeld was Creative Director at Chanel from 1983 until his death in 2019. He was the man who brought the brand back from having become quite plain, predictable and classic and gave it an edge and a ‘must have’ look. With the reinvention of the brand, Lagerfeld himself became a recognisable icon – ponytail, the black and white fan, the uniform outfit of the slim black jacket, black jeans or black trousers, black gloves, and his signature black sunglasses. Elevating his stardom even further, he simultaneously took up the same role at Fendi and brought the iconic Baguette bag to market.
“Creative Directors are no longer shying away from being associated with the high street, or accessible fashion, and are instead embracing it.”
Clare Waight-Keller was the mind behind another famous royal gown, designing Meghan Markle’s wedding dress when she was Creative Director of Givenchy. But in a brilliant turn of events, she’s decided to say goodbye to the luxury space – at least for the time being – and has taken up the role of Creative Director at Japanese high street fashion retailer, Uniqlo.
Collaborating with recognisable fashion designers is not a new concept for Uniqlo – Jonathan Anderson has created five collections for the brand through his own label, JW Anderson, since 2017 and Clare herself designed the capsule collection Uniqlo: C last year, which combines utilitarian style pieces with oversized tailoring and comfortable silhouettes. Known for her strong lines, timeless designs and gender blurring collections at Givenchy, her move away from the luxury space may seem like quite the shift for Clare. But looking more closely at the comfortable, layered and modern style that she brought to her Uniqlo: C collection, the appointment, which was announced in September of this year, appears to be a perfect match, and is the latest in what feels like an industry move towards the world of luxury colliding with the high street.
Tom Ford protégé and well-known fashion designer, Zac Posen, made a similar – and slightly surprising – move back in February of this year when he was appointed to the newly created roles of Chief Creative Officer of Old Navy and Executive Vice President of Gap Inc. This was a bold statement by Richard Dickson, who himself was named CEO the previous October, as Zac had not had a full-time position since his own label closed in 2019 and was best known for his sharp tuxedos and red-carpet dressing. Indeed, he was interviewing for designer positions at luxury brands in Paris when Gap came knocking. So why did he, like Clare, decide to take on these Creative Director positions at high street brands and not continue in the luxury space?
A key consideration is the resources that these brands can provide; Old Navy had net sales of $8.2 billion this year and Uniqlo reported $20 billion in consolidated revenue. One example of the way these resources can be used, is Old Navy’s use of 3-D technology to sample garments in order to remove physical waste and another is Zac setting up an intern programme to create a pipeline of young designers at Gap Inc.
There’s also the mass reach that high street retailers have compared to luxury fashion houses, which is an appealing prospect to designers. Now, aligning with the high street doesn’t damage a luxury designer’s reputation as it may have once done, as exclusivity in fashion becomes less, well, fashionable, and instead elevates the brand they’re working for. In fact, just last week Zac dressed Cynthia Erivo, who is starring as Elphaba in the upcoming Wicked film, in a Gap dress for the 2024 CFDA Fashion Awards. Having these connections through their creative faces gives high-street brands a luxury edge and presents their new collections as just a step removed from high fashion.
H&M is a perfect example of how this works. Every year since 2004, the fashion retailer has partnered with a designer brand to create a limited collection, with some of its most famous partnerships being with Versace, Commes des Garcon, Stella McCartney, Lanvin, Marni, Isabel Marant, Giambattista Valli and its very first collaboration, Karl Lagerfeld. Last year it was Rabanne, and this year, to celebrate 20 years of guest designers, it’s re-releasing limited edition pre-loved versions of archive pieces. These fashion houses putting their names alongside H&M gives the retailer kudos, bridging the high-street, high-end gap and gives the customer access to the aspirational world of luxury designs.
“It feels like an industry move towards the world of luxury colliding with the high street.”
Just last month Zara, did something similar, announcing a collaboration with Stefano Pilati who was the Creative Director of YSL from 2004 to 2012 and is known for his gender fluid and boundary pushing designs. This is the latest – and most high fashion – of the Spanish brand’s designer collaborations, with Stefano himself modelling the men’s line alongside Giselle Bündchen who wore the women’s collection. It’s clear: Creative Directors are no longer shying away from being associated with the high street, or accessible fashion, and are instead embracing it.
It’s too early to tell how successful Zac and Clare will be in these newly created roles, but seven months into Zac’s tenure, it looks like there’s early evidence that his efforts to re-energise Gap Inc. is delivering results. The appointment of these big luxury names as creative leads of high-street retailers is pointing towards an industry shift in the direction of widespread designer fashion – customers aren’t simply getting iterations of the ideas of fashion house Creative Directors, but are now getting collections straight from the source, and not just in limited edition collections. Is this something we will continue to see? I’d love to know your thoughts.
