Designers Switching Houses & Moving to New Brands

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Hyères winner Jenny Hytönen (formerly from Olivier Theyskens' studio team) is AZ Factory's newest Amigo. Her collection will be shown during the Couture shows in January.
EXCLUSIVE: AZ Factory Taps Hyères Winner for Couture Showing
Finnish designer Jenny Hytönen specializes in knitwear and leather craft — with high-tech elements.

By MILES SOCHA
NOVEMBER 27, 2023, 1:00AM

PARIS — Jenny Hytönen, who took home the top prize at the Hyères festival in 2022, has been tapped to design AZ Factory‘s next couture project, WWD has learned.

The Finnish designer is to present a 10-piece collection during Paris Couture Week, scheduled for Jan. 22 to 25 in the French capital.

“I was very seduced by her personality because she has a very nice combination of shyness and a daring attitude at the same time,” said Mauro Grimaldi, an executive at Compagnie Financière Richemont, which in 2019 forged a venture with the late Alber Elbaz to create a newfangled fashion house turning out “smart fashion that cares.” Following Elbaz’s untimely death in 2021, the brand pivoted to a platform for collaborations with guest creatives, or “amigos.”

Grimaldi also lauded Hytönen’s painstaking techniques across leather, embroideries and high-tech elements.

At the 37th edition of the Hyères International Festival of Fashion, Photography and Fashion Accessories, Hytönen described herself as “loving knitwear and BDSM.” She capped off her runway show with a cyborg bride wearing a veil that incorporated 25,000 glass beads, and an LED bodysuit with a heart sensor that materialized the wearer’s heartbeat with pulsating lights.

The Paris-based designer graduated from Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture in 2021, after which she worked as a knitwear designer at Olivier Theyskens.

Hytönen is the fourth Gen Z fashion newcomer invited to take a stab at couture for AZ Factory and introduce the rarified pursuit to a generation obsessed with limited-edition and customized products, yet remote from the rituals of painstakingly made garments requiring multiple fittings, Grimaldi said.

“We think it’s a nice way to support young designers, create a dialogue with that generation, and at the same time pay homage to Alber and his fascination with the atelier,” said Grimaldi, a strategic adviser to Philippe Fortunato, chief executive officer of fashion and accessories maisons at Richemont.

He noted guest couturiers are invited to create couture or one-of-a-kind ranges without any commercial targets.

“It’s really about experimentation, about giving them voice,” Grimaldi said. “We consider that an investment for for the future of these talents.”

That said, the first recent fashion graduate AZ Factory invited to take a stab at couture, Cyril Bourez, ended up selling most of his 35 one-of-a-kind looks that interpreted iconic Elbaz designs via upcycled vintage Americana: Hawaiian shirts, sports jerseys and the like.

Grimaldi said the “guest amigo” experience allows young designers to work with a design team hand-selected by Elbaz, along with professional teams in product development, marketing and communications. It also puts them in contact with international press and get a taste of what a designer career is like, he said.

Meanwhile, for AZ Factory, it’s an “opportunity to underline our support to independent creativity from the very beginning,” he added.

Lora Sonney and Tennessy Thoreson have also designed couture collections or one-of-a-kind ranges for AZ Factory.
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Source: WWD
 
So Matthew Williams is officially out at Givenchy, and while I hope LVMH won't put Kim Jones there, it doesn't seem too unlikely that they will - his womenswear at Fendi hasn't been exactly a success (that Pilati capsule got lowkey more attention than Jones' couture collections) and he is used to doing expensive sweatshirts and bags with logos on them, which I reckon Givenchy mostly sells nowadays. However, if they do decide to go for someone outside of the group, I am rooting for a relatively discreet, yet experienced designer like Haider Ackermann - who would obv need a strong accessories team, lol. The best, though, would probably be to wait a few seasons for Sarah Burton - she's a great technician and is able to adapt to creative and commercial challenges. Plus, they would get to one-up Kering yet again by signing the very person who was their last female creative director. If not, I'll take Burton replacing both Maria Grazia AND Kim Jones at Dior once her non-compete is over!
 
GoldenPetals said:
Random question, but what happened to Julien McDonald?
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His company went into liquidation back in July:
Julien Macdonald’s Business Goes Into Liquidation
Liquidators FTS Recovery have confirmed that they are selling stock and other assets in order to seek repayment for creditors.

By SAMANTHA CONTI
JULY 23, 2023, 5:00AM

LONDON — Tough economic times have claimed another industry victim — Julien Macdonald, whose business has gone into liquidation.

On Sunday, insolvency practitioners FTS Recovery confirmed that Alan Coleman and Marco Piacquadio have been appointed joint liquidators to the fashion brand that was founded by Macdonald in 1997.

In a brief statement, FTS said Macdonald’s business fell into trouble during the COVID-19 pandemic, “which has affected all aspects of the retail sector.”

FTS added that Macdonald’s label had lost “a significant proportion of revenue” following the collapse of Debenhams at the end of 2020, and that no employees or existing contracts could be saved.

The liquidators said they are selling stock and other assets in order to seek repayment for creditors.

Coleman, a director at FTS Recovery, added that cash flow at Julien Macdonald had been severely impacted due to the “loss and under performance” of several key contracts.

“The cash flow issues were compounded by general inflationary costs, which impacted on all aspects of the business,” Coleman added.

Britain, like many other countries, has been fighting to bring down inflation and has witnessed a series of punishing interest rate hikes over the past 12 months.

In February, Macdonald — a knitwear specialist and runway showman — had returned to London Fashion Week after a three-year hiatus.

He made his comeback with a typically glittering show and a front row that was brimming with wealthy clients and reality TV stars wearing his ultra-glamorous designs.

In true Macdonald fashion, the show featured laser lights and smoke, with the first model emerging from the fog in a black, long-sleeved bodysuit decorated with mirrors.

There were cutout minidresses, feathered styles and men’s tailoring featuring studs, embroidery and sequins.

“I’m so happy because I’m back to doing what I love, which is making women feel glamorous,” said the designer, who staged the show with help from his friend and biggest private client, the Mexican socialite Gabriela González.

Before the show, WWD paid a visit to Macdonald’s London studio, where a team of more than 20 were hand-beading and knitting his high-end runway looks.

But the buzz around the final show was not enough to sustain the designer, who had suffered a series of setbacks in recent years.

Macdonald, along with Jasper Conran, Matthew Williamson, John Rocha and Preen, had been among a group of British designers with long-term, lucrative contracts for secondary collections for Debenhams.

Those contracts allowed many of those creative talents to sustain their businesses, stage runway shows and bolster their profiles. But everything ended when Debenhams collapsed.

In 2021, Boohoo purchased Debenhams’ brand equity, website and customer base, but the physical stores across the country shut for good.

The same year that Debenhams closed, Macdonald inked a three-year deal with Freemans Grattan Holdings, the U.K. division of the German retail giant Otto Group, for a collection of clothing, accessories and homeware.

He also contributed some of his new designs to that company’s Curvissa plus-size collection, and Kaleidoscope, which focuses on more formalwear and eveningwear. A selection of his styles were also sold through the Otto sites in Germany.

The liquidation marks the end of an extraordinary run for the designer who has dressed the likes of Jennifer Lopez, Kylie Minogue, Kim Kardashian, Beyoncé and Heidi Klum — and who is no stranger to the stage himself.

He has appeared as a judge on “Britain & Ireland’s Next Top Model” and as a contestant on the popular TV show “Strictly Come Dancing” in the U.K.

At the start of his career the designer worked with Karl Lagerfeld at Chanel and with Lee Alexander McQueen designing knitwear. He served as head designer at Givenchy from 2001 to 2004, and during the 2000s designed the flight attendants’ uniforms for British Airways.

Julien Macdonald joins a long list of fashion businesses that have run into trouble due to the impact of the pandemic, rising inflation and interest rates.

As reported last week, Christopher and Tammy Kane purchased the IP and assets of the Christopher Kane fashion label, which had been placed into administration last month.
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Source: WWD
 
I mean, the boss of Interparfums counted on a buzz to relaunch Rochas because he just bought it. Rochas is definitely a struggling brand. If he wants to make it successful, a real commitment will be necessary. I hope they signed him a 3 years contract!
 
I have no hopes for this, sounds like he enjoyed a lengthy career in the Milanese fashion establishment, I hope that doesn't mean his personal point of view reads as a remix of all these designers - But when I look at the fact that both Alessandro dell Acqua or Marco Zanini failed to replicate the buzz Olivier Theyskens tenure produced, I don't think we can expect such a rare occurance to happen under this new guy.
 
I'm not sure if buzz is what Rochas needs at the moment. On the one hand, they got it with de Vilmorin in a way, but the offering didn't really live up to imposed expectations. On the other hand, Zanini's tenure was not very exciting, especially when compared to Theyskens's demi-couture, but it sold pretty well and was really solid. I guess instead of creating hype, they need to find their own niche first and start selling clothes, otherwise they'll end up being another Guy Laroche nobody cares about.
 
perhydrol said:
I'm not sure if buzz is what Rochas needs at the moment. On the one hand, they got it with de Vilmorin in a way, but the offering didn't really live up to imposed expectations. On the other hand, Zanini's tenure was not very exciting, especially when compared to Theyskens's demi-couture, but it sold pretty well and was really solid. I guess instead of creating hype, they need to find their own niche first and start selling clothes, otherwise they'll end up being another Guy Laroche nobody cares about.
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Yeah but simply producing boutique-friendly merch doesn't quite cut it after so many designers this brand has gone through and none whose work really elevated the name of Rochas after such a long time out of operation. Olivier's tenure still stands the test of time in terms of something that provided a clear aesthetic point of view for the brand, one from which consistent growth could have been furthered. What the brand needs now is somebody who provides that again, and more importantly as the lesson learned from Rochas under Olivier, an investor in the brand who understands that to put this brand back on the map will not be achieved on the short term - Olivier left after 3 years and it stands as a testament to his talent that the brand grew in a healthy and steady way during that time, something a lot of designers don't manage to achieve in this time.
 
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