Hi, and welcome back to Line Sheet. Goodbye, Mr. Armani. He was 91. We’ll discuss the future
of the Armani business in a forthcoming issue, but today I bring you a few small thoughts. Plus, along with a quick Natalie and Erik update, I’m rating the fall campaigns and previewing the intensifying rivalry between Dior and Chanel. For the main event, I ask the dark and unspeakable question on everyone’s minds—Is the Alessandro-Valentino situation salvageable?—before considering what’s next for both of his predecessors
(Pierpaolo Piccioli and Maria Grazia Chiuri).
Programming note: Tomorrow on Fashion People, my guest is former Barneys New York co-C.E.O. Gene Pressman, author of They All Came to Barneys: A Personal History of the World’s Greatest Store, the story of his life and the life of the store that defined a golden age in fashion. I
was very charmed by Gene, whose grandfather founded Barneys, and think you will be, too. (Also, big shout-out to Gene’s co-writer, the truly exceptional Matthew Schneier. I am proud of them both! The book is flat-out wonderful and you should buy it immediately.) To kick things off, New York Times reporter Jessica Testa joined me to discuss Chloe Malle’s appointment at American Vogue and the Armani news. Listen
here and here.
P.S.: Sarah Shapiro will be back tomorrow with a bit of an analysis on the exit of Madewell president Adrienne Lazarus. (If you have thoughts, hit her up at
SShapiro@puck.news and be sure to read her take on the biz.)
Mentioned in this issue: Giorgio Armani, Valentino, Alessandro Michele, Riccardo Bellini, Jacopo Venturini, Kering, Luca de
Meo, Balenciaga, Pierpaolo Piccioli, Demna, Maria Grazia Chiuri, Silvia Venturini Fendi, LVMH, Kim Jones, Chanel, Dior, Natalie Massenet, Jonathan Anderson, Matthieu Blazy, and many, many more… |
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Four Things You
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- Navy
blues: The fashion industry is undeniably, understandably sad about the death of Giorgio Armani, which was announced by his company today. He was 91, and yet another proof point that working up until the end is the way to do it. It’s difficult to think of something original to say about a man like Armani, who lived a public and honest life, especially if you didn’t know him. Our few interactions were via written correspondence. (I made an exception to my “no-email interviews” rule about a
decade ago to write a lengthier feature on the future of the company, and was impressed by his directness; he didn’t ignore or dodge my questions about succession.)
Most of today’s media coverage will make three important points: Armani did not start his business until he was in his 40s; he was able to remain independent despite overtures from the likes of LVMH and Kering; and he fundamentally changed the way people dress forever. It’s fitting that Gene Pressman’s book about Barneys New
York, which is credited with bringing Armani to the U.S., was published this week.
I suggest you read Eric Wilson’s obituary of Mr. Armani in The Business of
Fashion, but the first person I thought of when I woke up to the news was BoF’s Tim Blanks, the great critic. Tim was one of the few journalists who had a real relationship with Armani. Just a few days ago, we were discussing Armani’s recent HTSI cover, and reminiscing about a podcast the two of us recorded together in Los Angeles that went behind the
scenes of Tim’s 2022 profile of the designer. So I’ll be rereading that while waiting for Tim’s thoughts on his passing.
The funeral will be private, but there will be an open chamber inside the Armani/Teatro in Milan, where the company stages its fashion shows, on September 6 and 7 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
for fans who want to pay their respects. - Waiting for the Times: Every conversation I’ve had over the past week has inevitably led back to Net-a-Porter founder Natalie Massenet’s scorched-earth lawsuit against her former boyfriend, Erik Torstensson, who has remained holed up in the Hamptons amid the personal and professional wreckage. I hear both camps are eagerly awaiting the forthcoming, multiple-bylined New York Times
treatment, which I’ve heard could be published as soon as this weekend, but may still be a ways off. I’m sure the timeline is being dictated, in part, by the Times’s lawyers.
The current discourse suggests that the piece focuses on Massenet’s motivation for filing the theatrical suit, especially given the arguably minimal legal precedent and extraordinary personal humiliation dolloped on all involved—including, not insignificantly, herself. I wonder what Skims co-founders
Kim Kardashian and the Gredes are thinking privately as a couple lines on their cap table erupt in holy war. After all, as the suit noted, Torstensson was an early investor in the company alongside Imaginary Ventures, Massenet’s venture capital firm.
The Times may also be waiting for Torstensson to file some sort of response. I’m hearing that, while there is still a big chance he’ll say something, he’ll also take the high road.
Torstensson may not have been the business mastermind in any of his ventures, but he is creative, and he wants to salvage his reputation so that he can continue working. While no one is condoning his alleged behavior—yuck—he has supporters who believe Massenet’s actions were disproportionate and he deserves a chance to move on. Both parties declined to comment. - Chanel vs. Dior: There’s an astounding number of collection debuts coming this
Fashion Month. Vogue Runway counted 15 in total, including Rachel Scott’s, who was recently appointed as the creative director of Proenza Schouler. There is plenty to say about almost every single one of them, and I will offer my commentary in the coming weeks. But the Venice Film Festival really threw into stark relief the two-horse race between Chanel and Dior, the biggest couture brands in the world. As witnessed on the Lido, Ayo Edebiri
started working with Chanel, Mia Goth with Dior, Greta Lee with Dior, and there will inevitably be more turnover and ambassadorship announcements as we get deeper into awards season.
Jonathan Anderson and Matthieu Blazy both have incredible challenges ahead of them. We all know that. But Anderson’s job is larger, and trickier—he is managing men’s, women’s, couture, brand, and the internal politics of an LVMH
house in turnaround mode amid a global spending crisis. Blazy’s scope is far narrower, and the expectations are different. Chanel doesn’t need his first collection to be an instant hit—the shoes and handbags, all combined within a powerful infrastructure, can still carry the day, and he can learn on the job. He’s spent the past few months meeting with celebrities and stylists, building the type of relationships that Anderson has had for years. I suspect that Blazy is going to be judged less
harshly at first, both privately by executives and publicly by fashion fans and consumers. Just look at how intense the reaction was to those Anderson red carpet looks compared to the ones attributed, at least in part, to Blazy.
That said, Anderson seems determined to triumph. (Remember what he told Bella
Freud about craving this sort of challenge?) His final look after a rocky start in Venice—Greta Lee in a green organza mini, held together with tuxedo lapels—was a grown-up, sexier version of their past collaboration at Loewe. And then there was Josh O’Connor in a French-cuffed dinner
shirt and fringed jacket at The History of Sound premiere in New York. Good.
Anyway, it’s clear that everyone is going to be juxtaposing these two designers, even if it’s not a fair comparison. The truth is that they will be much better off if they both succeed. Meanwhile, Demna must be happy he is showing in Milan, at the beginning of everything, in an unorthodox way. His Gucci runway will be the big news of next season. - Make campaigns great again: I wish I could do a roundup of the best campaigns of the season, but there weren’t very many good ones. I loved Simone Bellotti’s Jil Sander teaser, and thought the reactions to Sarah Burton’s
Collier Schorr–shot series were telling. Some insiders were privately quite critical, but consumers rave anytime I post anything from Burton’s Givenchy—whether that’s a campaign portrait or a red carpet look. Burton is designing in the silhouettes of the moment with a prettiness that many shoppers crave. I’m curious to see if they’ll vote with their
dollars.
Obviously, Phoebe Philo’s pseudo campaign was the most directional (the dumbbell row), and I’m waiting to see if Anderson can top those Theo Wenner self-portraits he commissioned around the time of the men’s show. I liked the
Gucci portraits because they offered a sense of what’s to come with Demna, even if they don’t fit squarely in his oeuvre. I’m into the Pucci campaign starring Naomi Campbell, too. (Designer Camille Miceli seems to be having fun at the brand you forget is owned by LVMH; she’s worth watching
closely.) And I thought the latest Alaïa effort, shot again by Tyrone Lebon, matched the collection’s ambition. Anything else? Bueller?
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The generationally talented designer’s Roman idyll with Valentino is still problematic, one
year in, and now the house’s newly appointed C.E.O., Riccardo Bellini, needs to make it work. Plus, news and notes on his successor and the Fendi sitch. |
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Someone remarked to me recently that the biggest fashion mistake of the last decade was the
Gucci–Alessandro Michele breakup. But that’s not quite true: Michele wanted to go, and Kering needed to let him leave as his vision was winding down while the industry changed course from a palette that he had created. The execution of his departure was the real problem. At the time, the Michele machine was stalling, but it wasn’t out of gas altogether, especially in China. Michele could have exited less abruptly on his own terms, and Kering would have waited another
year before hiring a replacement.
What if the real mistake was what happened next? Michele was subsequently recruited to Valentino in 2024 by Jacopo Venturini, his former collaborator at Gucci, to restore the Roman house. The reunion narrative was compelling, but Michele’s tenure has been rockier than many expected. The consumer hangover from his era-defining Gucci run was real, and while loyalists were still keen to follow him to Valentino, the prices and macroeconomic
factors made conversion difficult. The shoes and bags are some of the best on the market, but marketing to consumers has become more challenging than ever. |
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Meanwhile, Venturini, who was struggling with health issues, exited the business at the end of the summer.
Riccardo Bellini, the former Chloé and Margiela executive who had joined parent company Mayhoola earlier that year, was subsequently named C.E.O. of Valentino—a relief to everyone involved. But Bellini is a seasoned luxury executive, not a turnaround expert, and yet he’s been entrusted with making the business sufficiently appealing to Kering, a minority partner, so that the conglomerate decides to complete a full acquisition of the brand by the end of 2028—the deadline in the
deal. Complicating matters, of course, is the fact that he’ll need to impress new Kering C.E.O., Luca de Meo, who is a turnaround expert.
I’ve been told multiple times that the Mayhoola board has confidence in Michele, and that they want him to continue at Valentino. However, the future likely depends on how Bellini and Michele get along, and if the former can figure out how to merchandise the latter’s undeniably extraordinary work more effectively. Let’s talk
about this again in January. |
The irony is not lost on anyone that Pierpaolo Piccioli, the longtime Valentino
creative director who was let go to make room for Michele, is now at Kering-owned Balenciaga—where he is, I’m told, taking a traditional, couture-informed approach to his first ready-to-wear collection. The Balenciaga archives are among the richest in the world: Cristóbal Balenciaga stands alongside Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel and Christian Dior as probably the three most influential—or at least famous—designers ever in terms of
silhouette. Piccioli is a couturier, and he is also open to collaboration.
As I’ve mentioned before, the plan was to hire a strong visual marketer to complement him on the image side after Ludivine Pont left to become the C.E.O. of Santa Maria Novella, and he already has a star merchandiser in deputy C.E.O. Nathalie Raynaud. He won’t tinker with Raynaud’s accessories strategy—particularly the hit Rodeo bag, in both black and brown suede—which is
tracking well with consumers. Let’s see if Piccioli’s proposal tracks at market, especially on the men’s side, which was particularly strong for Balenciaga during the Demna era. |
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Meanwhile, there is still lots of speculation regarding the future of Piccioli’s erstwhile
co-creative director at Valentino, Maria Grazia Chiuri, who left Dior earlier this year after a blockbuster run during which she made LVMH billions of dollars. After months of speculation, my bet is that Chiuri will indeed land at Fendi in the coming weeks or months. (Perhaps an announcement will be made after Silvia Venturini Fendi’s 100th anniversary show in September.) Venturini Fendi, who is ostensibly in charge of menswear and accessories, has made it
pretty clear that she has no plans to retire, and LVMH has given no indication they will push her out. My assumption is that, if Chiuri does indeed take the Fendi job, she will design womenswear—with input on accessories, given that is where her talent lies.
Anyway, the Fendi gig has been the hardest to pin down, and demonstrates the insular and circular nature of the industry. Not long ago, both Piccioli and Michele were positioned as sure bets to replace Kim
Jones. But Chiuri now seems like the surest bet based on her desire to live in Rome, ability to create commercially viable work, and a presumed will to continue her career after an unnecessarily messy exit at Dior. |
Printemps global C.E.O. Jean-Marc Bellaiche is out. He cited “personal reasons.” He’s very
likeable. Hmmm, I will write more about this soon. Interesting situation.
[WWD]
The
inevitable layoffs are coming for Yoox Net-a-Porter Group. No surprise: Parentco LuxExperience said it would reduce the workforce by 700 people. Remember that LuxExperience is a public company and needs to streamline, especially to please lukewarm investors. (The stock is up 144 percent over the past 12 months but still only trading at, like, $9 a share. Let’s create some synergies.) Meanwhile, I’m still shocked they’re not closing down Italy-based Yoox. (So. Much. Inventory.) However,
group C.E.O. Michael Kliger is nothing if not efficient and responsible, and he clearly believes an opportunity still exists. [Inbox]
Attention advertisers with money to spend and nowhere to spend it: Cultured editor-in-chief Sarah Harrelson has hired her first director of brand and marketing, Ian Malone. He led the Vogue 100, the brand’s private members club that cost $100,000 a year. Unsurprisingly, Harrelson has
tasked Malone with further developing Cultured’s very own V.I.P. club, and managing brand partnerships. [Inbox]
American Eagle’s C.M.O. admits that the Sydney Sweeney controversy was the best thing that ever happened to him.
[BoF] |
Until tomorrow,
Lauren
P.S.: We use affiliate links because we are a business. We may make
a couple bucks off them. |
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