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Last week, it was Hedi Slimane leaving Celine. This week, it’s Kim Jones leaving Fendi. The luxury furrier announced on Friday that the British designer is stepping down from his job as artistic director after four years. Jones took over the LVMH-owned Fendi in 2020, succeeding the late Karl Lagerfeld. And like Lagerfeld, Jones balanced his role at Fendi with another big design job as the head of menswear at Dior, where he remains.
Much as there was leading up to Slimane’s exit from Celine, speculation about the end of Jones’s tenure at Fendi was widespread in industry circles this year — especially after he mysteriously wiped his personal Instagram account last spring. Then, in September, the fashion writer Astrid Wendlandt, better known as Miss Tweed, reported that Fendi had hired former Valentino designer Pierpaolo Piccioli to replace Jones. But nothing has been officially confirmed — yet.
The same could be said for many of Fendi’s competitors. If you believe all the gossip pinging around the industry right now, the world’s largest luxury conglomerates are responding to the market’s sales slump by booting their top designers and trying to poach the best talents they can. This year, we’ve already seen Alessandro Michele jump from Gucci to Valentino, and designer switch-ups at Tom Ford and Lanvin. Since leaving Alexander McQueen, Sarah Burton will soon debut her first collection for Givenchy. And don’t forget, the Big Job is still open at Chanel.
Is Jonathan Anderson leaving Loewe for bigger and better things? Is John Galliano jumping from Margiela back to LVMH? Are Lucie and Luke Meier wrapping up their tenure at Jil Sander? Will Gucci’s New CEO boot Sabato De Sarno? And if “yes” to any or all of the above, who will fill the roles they leave behind? Or the jobs their replacements leave open? A designer domino effect is in full swing.
