New York Fashion Week is drawing to a close, but some long-awaited Fall/Winter 2023 season debuts are yet to come. From well-known fashion houses under new creative direction to designer duos who are now going their separate ways – for many a brand, change is in the air.
Daniel Lee’s return to London
Last week, Daniel Lee’s first campaign for Burberry already gave a foretaste of the possible future of the British heritage brand under the former Bottega Veneta creative director. What this really looks like, however, won’t be revealed until February 20 during the designer’s debut show at London Fashion Week.
Lee took over as creative director from Italian Riccardo Tisci in October. He is the first Brit in the role since departing from Christopher Bailey, who ran the heritage brand for 17 years. There are some signs that the brand’s British heritage will be at the fore again from now on, not least the return of the brand’s well-known equestrian logo, which has had to make way for a minimalist monogram under Tisci.
Before his abrupt departure from Bottega Veneta, Lee was considered a child prodigy whose designs, particularly in the accessories space, became instant box-office hits. It remains to be seen to what extent his special talent for coveted trend pieces will also be crowned with success at Burberry.
An act in two parts at Act N.1
Designer duo Luca Lin and Galib Gassanoff behind Italian brand Act N.1 are going their separate ways this season. Last week, the two designers announced the changes in their company structure on Instagram. Accordingly, Lin will run the brand alone in the future, while Gassanoff will pursue other paths in the world of fashion and art. The brand’s Fall/Winter 2023 collection, which will be presented on February 24 during Milan Fashion Week, is the first that Lin has designed in-house.
One of the former duo’s most famous fans is Valentino designer Pierpaolo Piccioli. The Italian designer gave the fledgling brand a new lease of life when he allowed them to live stream their Spring/Summer 2023 collection on the Valentino Instagram account. For Fall/Winter 2023, Lin is on her own for the first time since founding Act N.1 in 2016. However, he assured industry magazine Women’s Wear Daily that all the values of the brand – which were founded on the diverse backgrounds of the two designers – will remain intact.
Harris Reed brings romance, drama and couture back to Nina Ricci
Back in December, the fashion world got a glimpse of gender-fluid designer Harris Reed’s possible vision for French fashion house Nina Ricci. Reed’s first muse was singer Adele, who wore a dramatic black velvet couture creation with voluminous, circular sleeves in black tulle, sequin dot embroidery and Swarovski crystals during a concert in Las Vegas. The extent to which this is a foretaste of Harris Reed’s first collection for Nina Ricci will be revealed no later than March 3 in Paris.
Reed is known for theatrical, romantic and gender-fluid designs that have won the hearts of celebrities such as singer Harry Styles and ex-Gucci creative director Alessandro Michele. While Dutch design duo Lisi Herrebrugh and Rushemy Botter, who managed Nina Ricci for just over three years, are known for their minimalist approach to design, expect Reed to bring drama back to the fashion house, which was founded in 1932.
When Reed was named Nina Ricci’s creative director in September, the designer stressed that he looks forward to challenging the landscape of what femininity means in fashion and beauty in such an iconic house. Now the industry won’t have to wait long to find out exactly what that means and how Reed will combine his vision with the legacy of the historic Parisian brand.
Ludovic de Saint Sernin’s sex and sensuality at Ann Demeulemeester
Sensuality, tension, silhouette, fluidity, wilderness and a graphic sensibility are the pillars of Ludovic de Saint Sernin’s design language for Ann Demeulemeester, according to the designer’s announcement as the Belgian fashion house’s new creative director in December. The industry will find out exactly what that means on March 4th at Paris Fashion Week.
Ludovic de Saint Sernin is the first creative director to lead Ann Demeulemeester since creative director Sébastien Meunier stepped down more than two years ago. The brand has so far been led by an in-house creative team, while founder Ann Demeulemeester herself merely oversees various projects for the brand and is not actively involved in the design process.
De Saint Sernin’s debut is in many ways one of the most exciting, as while the appointment of Daniel Lee at Burberry, for example, was in the offing by now, the parallels between Demeulemeester and de Saint Sernin – apart from their Belgian heritage – are less obvious. And yet both fashion designers count the photographer Robert Mapplethorpe as one of their greatest inspirations and often draw on the play between masculinity and femininity in their creations using materials such as leather, feathers and flowing cuts. Whether de Saint Sernin will also bring his fondness for sheer fabrics, rhinestones and revealingness to Ann Demeulemeester will be seen in just a few days.
Patience is a Virtue: These debuts follow throughout the year
It’s official as of last night – Pharrell Williams is following in Virgil Abloh’s footsteps and is Louis Vuitton’s new creative director for menswear. However, the first collection of the singing all-rounder demands patience from the industry, because it will only be presented during the Paris men’s fashion week in June. Philophiles – the self-proclaimed adepts of designer Phoebe Philo – have to wait even longer. She returned last week with an update on her long-awaited own brand, though the pieces won’t be unveiled until September.
In November, Gucci announced the farewell to creative director Alessandro Michele, and his successor has been in place since the end of January. However, the first collection by the chosen creative director Sabato De Sarno, a longtime collaborator of Valentino Pierpaolo Piccioli, will only be shown at the Milan Fashion Week in September. Both the past menswear collection and the forthcoming Autumn/Winter 2023 collection for women were designed by the in-house creative team and are considered a transitional phase for the Italian fashion house.