The fall shows in Paris will see another round of designer debuts, as the merry-go-round of creative directors continues to whirl.
Among those showing their first collections for new labels are Clare Waight Keller at Givenchy, Natacha Ramsay-Levi at Chloé and Olivier Lapidus at Lanvin.
Waight Keller, who joins Givenchy after six years at the helm of Chloé, gave a taste of the future direction of the brand in July by releasing a teaser campaign shot by Steven Meisel. It featured black-and-white images of sultry models — female and male — lounging with cats.
The brand said the show, scheduled for Oct. 1, would switch to a coed format. “To me, Givenchy is a world where women and men alike are strong, stoic and mysterious. They own their power, and share it equally,” Waight Keller said.
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Just as hotly anticipated is Ramsay-Levi’s debut at Chloé. A longtime associate of Nicolas Ghesquière at Balenciaga and Louis Vuitton, the designer has never previously held the top job.
When her appointment was announced in March, Geoffroy de la Bourdonnaye, chief executive officer of Chloé, said Ramsay-Levi was chosen for her personality and solid background.
“She’s bold, she’s unafraid to be herself, she has excellent creative vision, she knows what she wants, she has charisma and she shines,” he told WWD. “She has proven that she is capable of working in different environments and handling the pressure of large brands.”
Lapidus, another relative unknown, has the tricky task of rebooting Lanvin following the departure of Bouchra Jarrar after only 16 months in the job.
“My first collection will be luxury with an extremely contemporary feel,” he told WWD, adding that he would honor the “founding elements of Jeanne Lanvin’s DNA. “You can’t deny 130 years of history, no matter which designers were previously at the house.”
The Lanvin appointment marks a return to the fashion scene for Lapidus, 59, who was creative director of his father Ted Lapidus’ label from 1989 to 2000 — scooping the Dé d’Or de la Haute Couture award in 1994. In July, he launched what he billed as the world’s first web-based couture house.
The week will also feature the runway debut of Serge Ruffieux at Carven, whose appointment reinforced that second-in-command designers are a rich vein of talent for European luxury brands. The Swiss designer acted as co-artistic director at Dior following the October 2015 exit of Raf Simons.