Act Two: A Verdict on Paris’ Sophomore Outings

PARIS — For brands aiming to stick the landing on a designer transition this year, the debut show is only the beginning.

Yet during a womenswear season dominated by flashy first outings — including by new designers at Gucci, Dior and Chanel — the handful of labels which had already changed creative directors earlier this year risked being overlooked. They no longer benefit from the obvious narrative hook of a debut show to attract viewers in an ultra-competitive season, nor do they benefit from the established momentum of perennial must-sees like Saint Laurent and Miu Miu.

Follow-up shows by new creative directors at Givenchy, Celine, Lanvin, Tom Ford and Lanvin were nonetheless hotly watched by fashion insiders keen to take the pulse on how a sweeping wave of designer changes is being received by the market, beyond buzzy first outings.

Givenchy

At LVMH’s Givenchy, Sarah Burton’s March debut sought to reconnect the brand with its founding story as a house that modernized Paris couture with its focus on pure, architectural volumes rather than embellishment.

As an authoritative, seasoned talent, Burton seems well-positioned to stabilise the brand’s image and reestablish its position as a major-league fashion house after years of ping-ponging between short-lived designer visions. But the debut (and its corresponding campaign shot by Collier Schorr) stopped just short of making a clear case for Givenchy’s continued relevance in today’s troubled luxury market.

With her sophomore show Oct. 3, Burton continued to pursue an obsession with reduction, delivering a rich fashion narrative using a rigorously pared-back palette and silhouette. White shirts, black wrapped skirts and deconstructed blazers dominated the collection. A story about intimacy and sensuality came through clearly with lingerie-inspired pieces evoking various states of undress. Belted, chamber-robe-inspired gowns; bra tops; leotards and fishnet were dashed throughout. The clothes’ sexuality felt mature, embodied — not performative.

Burton’s show sublimated Givenchy’s codes, tapping into its graceful, purified ethos to tell a story about women — not about the brand or its couture heritage.

There was also a clearer sense of how Givenchy might translate Burton’s vision to the market. The show blended sex appeal and maturity, classicism and rock (via the frequent use of leather, the wire-wrapped crystal jewellery). It looked primed to tap into the “punk bourgeoise” client that had powered sales in Valentino’s previous incarnation under Pierpaolo Piccioli — despite looking very different.

“From her first show, Sarah’s Givenchy had a clear image and positioning, but she really refined and sharpened it with the second,” LVMH Fashion Group CEO Sidney Toledano said. “Sarah has understood that for a house like Givenchy, the focus needs to be the silhouette. The brand needs to build with upper-level clients you don’t bring in with Instagram, but through the actual dresses, the ready-to-wear.”

Following the show, Givenchy staged its re-see in its original couture salons on Avenue George V, rather than its usual showroom, in a bid to impress the top-spending clients who are now a focus for the brand (which previously depended heavily on sales of entry-level merch).

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Celine

LVMH’s Celine, where creative director Michael Rider staged his debut show in July, finds itself in a different position. Rather than inheriting an unstable identity like Givenchy’s, Rider has taken the reins of a strong brand with a crystal-clear identity in the wake of Hedi Slimane’s exit. But that tightly controlled messaging and strictly delineated aesthetic territory may make it hard to get customers excited again.

As such, Celine seems to be in a phase of gentle experimentation: Rider’s July debut show dipped into different periods in the brand’s past —looks recalling its 1970s ascent, the organic minimalism it was celebrated for when the designer worked there previously under Phoebe Philo — as well as doses of American sportswear. It offered a more relaxed, youthful angle on neo-prep than the vision it had been honed under Slimane. The Business of Fashion critic Angelo Flaccavento called it a “salade mixte.”

Three months later, his follow-up show during Paris Fashion Week continued in a similar vein. Slim trousers and pointy boots that seemed squarely aimed at the brand’s existing client base were interspersed with sleek trenches and long dresses that recalled the Philo era (The brand has also re-issued its best-selling Luggage tote from the same time.). Then there were the high-necked, mod floral dresses, foulard tops, and helmets as accessories.

Rider seems to be asserting that Celine’s core preoccupation should be that of style, rather than advancing a more directional fashion image. He’s broadening the spectrum of how that style can express itself within the brand while avoiding a more radical repositioning.

Perhaps wary of derailing hard-bought momentum, Celine is keeping the circle small on its shifting vision for now. The show was a relatively circumscribed affair, an hour outside the city. In September a more playful fashion campaign by Rider, shot in colour, was being diffused in parallel to more static, black-and-white ads in keeping with its Hedi-era image.

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Tom Ford

At Tom Ford’s sophomore outing by Haider Ackermann, a collection of slick, yet just-relaxed-enough eveningwear built on the vision the designer had launched with his March debut. Once again, he was lauded for interpreting Tom Ford’s founding codes figuratively, not literally — evoking its ethos of high-voltage sexiness and glamour in a way that felt entirely his own.

Tom Ford is another brand that chose to keep the circle small, as Ackermann favors a clubby, salon vibe. That may not have served the brand in an ultra-competitive season: only a few images from the show got serious traction on social media, including the sight of a trio of models in glossy, sharply tailored coat-dresses, one of them an apple green.

If the buzz was less pronounced for Ackermann’s sophomore outing was less pronounced, that may no longer be the brand’s principal aim: Losses are tolerated at plenty of fashion houses so long as they generate excitement for more profitable beauty and perfume lines. But with Tom Ford now being operated by Grupo Zegna, the brand has a commercial need to stand independently from its blockbuster perfume range at Estée Lauder. (Though the companies still work in tandem, with Ackermann dressing guests for a perfume party in Venice in September; his friend and muse Tilda Swinton is now the face of its Black Orchid Reserve scent.)

Zegna is also positioning the brand higher than ever before: Ackermann’s first collection included a $18,000 faux-crocodile embossed dress. As at Givenchy, success will require a targeted approach to clienteling.

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Lanvin

The collection at Lanvin was more literal in the way it explored the brand’s Art Deco heritage.

Under designer Peter Copping — a gifted dressmaker with a polished, historically informed sensibility — Lanvin is seeking to bounce back from a long period of creative and financial instability. His debut show in January was warmly received, as the house was able to offer a credible vision of Parisian elegance after more than two years without a show.

Its womenswear and menswear had looked a bit disjointed, however. Which is likely why Lanvin’s Oct. 2 outing sought to create a clearer aesthetic through-line: as Copping dove back into the brand’s 1920s and 1930s archive, giving the boys and girls alike crumpled silk tops, bow blouses, printed and embroidered headscarves. It was part Art Deco, part Nureyev. While there were plenty of pretty clothes in the show, the historical quality was at times a bit heavy, even costumey.

The venue wasn’t quite right for the brand’s intended message of “ultimate chic” either, with its bright blue carpeting and tinted lighting. Lanvin Group — the listed fashion firm controlled by China’s Fosun conglomerate — reported EBITDA losses of 53 million in the first half of the year. It likely wasn’t easy to fund the show, and it may have been the right choice to focus on investing in the clothes themselves, rather than a flashier presentation. But necessity is meant to be the mother of invention — more creative solutions were needed to achieve the right vibe for the brand’s ambitions.

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