“I think social media has brought about the cult of the individual,” observes Marks. “You see social media stars creating businesses; the Kardashians and Kris Jenner have built fortunes by being a personality first, and then building a brand attached to it second.”
Many of today’s designers are also multidisciplinary. Christian Lacroix and Giorgio Armani set the blueprint for designers crossing into other creative mediums. Lacroix designed costumes for numerous stage productions, including Madonna’s 2004 Re-Invention world tour. Armani’s relationship with film dates back to 1980, when he designed the wardrobe for Richard Gere in Paul Schrader’s American Gigolo. There is also Karl Lagerfeld, whose illustrious career included designing for Chanel while being a formidable photographer. Tom Ford, a designer who built an eponymous empire and is credited with reviving the luxury house Gucci during his tenure there, is also a film director whose 2009 movie A Single Man was Oscar-nominated. And Hedi Slimane is celebrated for his designs for Saint Laurent and Celine as well as for his photography.
“I think there’s a distinction to be made when designers were founders of their own brands. Ford and Armani did step out of fashion quite quickly, but they also had their own brands, and had a certain freedom and independence. That gave them the freedom to explore these things,” says Mariasole Pastori, a talent acquisition consultant who has previously worked with Zegna and Kering. She believes that “these creatives feel the need to step into other disciplines because they often just want to create . . . After years of being pressured to produce collection upon collection [in fashion], it’s refreshing for them to design other things.”
Vickie Segar, founder of the Village Marketing agency that was acquired by advertising giant WPP in 2022, believes that a designer’s influence shouldn’t be underestimated or limited to the companies they work for. “There are brands that are not going to be able to partner with Loewe, but now they can partner with Jonathan directly and that is a really interesting prospect.”
Segar continues: “Jonathan has media reach and a strong personal brand that is creative, luxurious and curated. That’s a powerful combination.” She adds that “across different professions, people are leveraging their [influence] to drive more business”, which in turn creates a halo effect for both the individual and the companies they’re associated with. “What Jonathan is doing is creating not only value for himself but also for Loewe.”
But not all designers want to be famous or operate this way, nor should they (Matthieu Blazy and Peter Copping’s recent appointments as the creative heads of French luxury houses Chanel and Lanvin, respectively, serve as a reminder that more traditional couturiers can coexist alongside multi-hyphenates). However, to build a long-term legacy, designers will need to think beyond simply the collections they design and more deeply about their purpose and where they can make a real difference.
“It’s beyond the selling of clothes or accessories; it’s how this person can use their power to connect with communities and support those who really need their help,” says Marks. But authenticity will always be a requisite. “You can’t drop a designer into a world that they’re not already connected to, because their audience will see it as a cheque-writing exercise. The job in hand will be to ensure that whatever these commercial partnerships look like, they’re intrinsically linked to the passions of the creative person.”
Kati Chitrakorn © 2024 The Financial Times
This article first appeared in The Financial Times
