The fashion house’s founders who are still creative directors

For some time now, it almost seems as if the fashion industry is taking on more and more of a football-like role. New creative directors are constantly being appointed, and there are many who make assumptions about these constant and exhausting changes. This all sounds very much like a game, but in fact it is not. We have also noticed how fashion is increasingly beginning to feel the pressure of a saturated market-especially speaking of consumers.

The designer no longer seems to be enough; today fashion houses increasingly need figures who can reinvent-in some cases resurrect-a brand. Thus the figure of the creative director seems, more and more, to be taking a leading role in the entire fashion system.

In recent years we have seen Matthew Williams being appointed creative director at Givenchy, Kim Jones at Fendi, Raf Simons joining Miuccia at Prada, Glenn Martens at Y/Project taking the helm at Diesel after Renzo Rosso. Last prominent fashion news sees Alessandro Michele, creative director of the Italian fashion house Gucci since 2015, unexpectedly leave his role. Again, that pressure we have already mentioned does not seem to be subsiding at all, industry lovers are already wondering, But where will Michele go next?

There are countless examples of designers who, like Alessandro Michele, the moment they got the creative direction a brand subsequently chose to steer it – creatively speaking – toward their own aesthetic imagery. Thus collaboration with any successful brand, rather than enhancing the fashion house itself, almost seems to create hype around the creative director.

The role of a creative director is very different from that of a brand founder. It has changed dramatically in recent years, in fact this is one of the highest positions in the fashion world, perhaps after the CEO. It is important for the creative director to inspire the creative team and provide them with excellent leadership for the future of the fashion house.

This job figure, however, picks up the legacy of the brand’s founder, looking for a current transposition to the narrative of that aesthetic we all think of when a brand is mentioned to us. Heritage, it is known, does not lose meaning, but takes on a whole new meaning. There are still fashion houses today that are still deeply connected to the role of their founder, who is at the same time still its creative mind. These designers include some iconic ones such as Miuccia Prada, Giorgio Armani, Marc Jacobs, and Vivienne Westwood, up to the younger Victoria Beckham and Stella McCartney.

THE FOUNDERS OF FAMOUS FASHION HOUSES WHO STILL HOLD THE CREATIVE DIRECTION TODAY