Anthony Vaccarello’s Saint Laurent debut will be exhibited in Paris on September 27th. Recently, the designer himself officially announced the closure of his eponymous brand. As early as April this year, when Saint Laurent announced that he would take on the role of creative director, WWD reported that the designer himself expected to "pause" his fashion business from October and devote himself fully to Saint Laurent's work.
This is not the first time that a fashion designer has closed his eponymous brand to serve his employer. Dior Homme creative director Kris Van Assche suspended operations of his eponymous brand established for more than 10 years due to financial problems in 2015, allowing him to concentrate on his role as creative director of Dior Homme. Today, for small-scale fashion brands, the sluggish consumer market and high operating costs are extremely challenging problems. There are many designers in the industry who are responsible for the design of two fashion brands. Anthony Vaccarello also served as the creative director of Versus Versace and designed two seasons of works for the latter. On the one hand, they hope to obtain high salaries to support the operation of their own brands by "working" for big brands. On the other hand, the increasingly fast-moving fashion industry makes them feel overwhelmed. Both Alexander Wang and Marc Jacobs left their former employers to focus on building their own brands.
The 2016 autumn and winter series, as the final work of Vaccarello's own brand, has been officially put on sale. Currently, more than 100 retailers around the world sell his works, including well-known luxury department stores, top buyer stores and important e-commerce platforms such as Bergdorf Goodman, Browns, Selfridges, Colette, Montaigne Market, Net-a-Porter, Mytheresa.com and Luisa via Roma. Vaccarello also expressed his gratitude to friends who have worked together in an official statement: "Thank you to every friend who has supported the brand since its inception. It is you who have made this brand so successful. The achievements of this adventurous experience have been amazing." But now, I need to devote myself fully to a new work project."
Anthony Vaccarello's eponymous brand was founded in 2008. In the past eight years, this women's clothing brand known for its sharp asymmetrical and sexy skirts has quickly become one of the unmissable fashion shows in the already fiercely competitive Paris Women's Fashion Week. In 2012, supermodel Anja Rubik unexpectedly became the sexiest red carpet outfit of the year with a white dress with a high slit at MET GALA, and it also truly helped Anthony Vaccarello officially step into the spotlight of the fashion industry. At the 2013 MET GALA, Anja once again appeared in a hot mini leather skirt designed by Anthony Vaccarello and the designer himself. Since then, Anthony Vaccarello has maintained close cooperation with Anja Rubik, from the opening and closing of fashion shows, to advertising shoots, to attending major events, and even printing Anja's portrait on clothing in the 2016 spring and summer series.
The 36-year-old Belgian has a humble personality and a low profile. In an interview with the American version of "Harper's Bazaar", Vaccarello stated that designers should not be overexposed. But now the job function of brand creative directors is no longer simply to lead design, but to participate in the formulation of brand strategies from marketing to sales, and they have to be regularly exposed to the media like celebrities. Hedi Slimane may be one of the few designers who can live in his own world, if Saint Laurent allows him to do so. Entering Saint Laurent, Anthony Vaccarello quickly rose to the ranks of top fashion designers. At the time of the appointment, Yves Saint Laurent President and CEO, Francesca Bellettini, called him "a master of pure modern aesthetics, which perfectly fits the temperament of this old Paris fashion house."
In terms of design style, like Hedi Slimane, Anthony Vaccarello is also a designer who likes to emphasize rock elements in his designs. At least from this point of view, after Vaccarello takes over, the overall design style of the brand will have a relatively natural transition, but it will inevitably undergo considerable changes from the works of Hedi's period. In June of this year, Saint Laurent's first set of image videos under the creative direction of Anthony Vaccarello were officially released. They presented the future of the fashion house through black and white portraits of individuals and pairs, injecting some sexy factors into Saint Laurent.
After Anthony Vaccarello officially took office, Saint Laurent’s official Instagram account deleted all picture information from the Hedi Slimane period, leaving only one of Anthony Vaccarelloo's portrait. This behavior has also triggered controversy within the industry. Fans of Hedi Slimane have said that this move is too ruthless, and professionals also believe that this approach actually damages the brand image.
Under normal circumstances, luxury brands will be cautious when replacing designers and will not make excessive publicity measures. For example, during the transition period between Frida Giannini and Alessandro Michele, Gucci's public relations team hoped that the media would try not to mention the former again. However, in terms of lending for fashion magazine clothing shoots, the 2015 spring and summer series designed by Frida Giannini was still loaned out normally and maintained an amazing amount of exposure. However, the Gucci headquarters also clearly stipulates that this series of works is prohibited from being provided to celebrities to attend public places or event celebrations (it is said that Oscar-winning actress Charlize Theron is the only star who, with the consent of Alessandro Michele, wore samples of the 2015 spring and summer series to attend events). Interestingly, Tom Ford, who was considered a "forbidden issue" during Frida Giannini's time, "came out" again after Alessandro took office. Starting in June, the GUCCI Museum at Gucci's headquarters in Florence has opened up a half-floor space to display classic designs from Tom Ford's period. Alessandro also revealed his dissatisfaction with Frida and his admiration for Tom Ford in interviews with the media more than once. On this point, Vaccarello praised Hedi Slimane with admiration in the interview, "I respect him very much. He always sticks to his ideas and works hard to achieve them." He has never presented any bad work, and I think his work during the Saint Laurent period was very good."
As of the beginning of 2016, the annual revenue of the Saint Laurent brand has officially exceeded US$1 billion, but its number of stores worldwide is only 142, which is far less than large fashion brands such as Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Chanel, Christian Dior, and Prada. Saint Laurent is bound to have enough room for development in the next few years.
The release date of Saint Laurent in Paris Women's Fashion Week has also changed. Anthony Vaccarello has retained the release time of his eponymous brand in the past and moved the Saint Laurent 2017 spring and summer women's wear series to the first day of Paris Women's Fashion Week. As for whether this is a pure women's clothing series, or it will incorporate some men's clothing looks, neither the brand nor the designer has revealed.
The industry is also full of expectations for this Paris Women's Fashion Week. In addition to Anthony Vaccarello's Saint Laurent debut, Maria Grazia Chiuri's Dior and Bouchra Jarrar's Lanvin will make their first appearances at this Paris Women's Fashion Week. And Balencaiga, which has already received a lot of attention, will continue to attract everyone's attention.
