Top Multiple-Branded Fashion Designers
Last February fashion designer Hedi Slimane was appointed the new artistic, creative and image director of fashion house Céline. This made us feel the urge to salute those designers who manage to tackle both renowned fashion houses’ and their own brand’s artistic direction. Indeed, Slimane is a compelling example of such an achievement, since in addition to his own Hedi Slimane house, the designer is known to have held tenures at Dior Homme and Saint Laurent.
If handling a single brand is already challenging, try picturing handling two brands, while coping with the seasons’ both demanding and fast-changing pace.
However, Slimane is not the only one to have had that hands-on multiple-brand experience. As it turns out, others, such as Haider Ackermann, Martin Margiela and Karl Lagarfeld have followed a similar blooming path. How did they manage to buckle-down multiple yet very different brands at once? With which piece of their identity did each of them enrich those houses’ collections? If handling a single brand is already challenging, try picturing handling two brands, while coping with the seasons’ both demanding and fast-changing pace.
Let’s hence take a look at these genuine conquerors.
KARL LAGERFELD︱ “Shine On You Crazy Diamond”
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☋ His brand:
☊ His record:
1955: PIERRE BALMAIN
1967: FENDI
1977: CHLOÉ
1983: CHANEL
2002: DIESEL (collaboration)
2004: H&M(collaboration)
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About
Karl Lagerfeld, 85, is the German-born fashion designer, curator and reinvention master who has been ruling the industry for the past 20 years. Never has the world seen such an everlasting dexterous acrobat, especially in such a rapidly evolving field, filled with evanescent shooting stars. Lagerfeld’s identity is the very definition of metamorphosis. Undisputed branding master, he was able to breathe the most fresh and eloquent breezes into the most stifled situations. From renowned fashion houses, to affordable ready to wear, up to diet books and Parisian bookstores, Karl Lagerfeld has tackled them all and continues to do so.
Beauty is also submitted to the taste of time, so a beautiful woman from the Belle Epoch is not exactly the perfect beauty of today, so beauty is something that changes with time — Karl Lagarfeld
MARTIN MARGIELA︱ “White Riot”
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☋ His brand:
MARTIN MARGIELA (1988–2009)
☊ His record:
1984–1988: JEAN-PAUL GAULTIER
1997–2003: HERMÈS
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About
Martin Margiela, 61, is the eminent Belgian designer who revamped the world’s fashion industry. Known to have influenced most major designers, such as Azzedine Alaïa, Alexander McQueen or Marc Jacobs, Margiela’s acclaimed work has always managed to provoke shock, intrigue, as well as wonder. As British Vogue underlines it, the artist applied “‘grunge’ techniques such as deconstruction, recycling and raw finishes, in an intelligent and sleek manner” and was able to become an anonymous design hand, “in a rejection of mass media culture”.
White means the strength of fragility and the fragility of the passage of time. — Martin Margiela
HEDI SLIMANE︱ “God save the king”
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☋ His brand:
☊ His record:
2000–2007: SAINT LAURENT
2012–2016: DIOR HOMME
2018 — : CÉLINE
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About
Hedi Slimane, 50, is a French-born, Italian-Tunisian designer and photographer, best known for changing the silhouette of men’s fashion to super-skinny during his time at Dior Homme. In 2002, Slimane became the first menswear designer to be named the CFDA International Designer of the year, presented by Slimane fan David Bowie. As a result of his fashion house name record, his photographer’s keen eye, as well as his numerous collaborations with the music scene (Mick Jagger, Pete Doherty, David Bowie, Jack White, etc.), Slimane’s versatile identity lies at the intersection of punk attitude and timeless French elegance, while remaining consistent with his luxury fashion sense of belonging.
I don’t like the collusion between high fashion design and high street. You have to know where you stand. I belong to luxury fashion. That’s what I’ve always felt and embraced. I like the best quality, the best fabrics and the most creative field in fashion. I will stay consistent. I belong to this world. — Hedi Slimane
HAIDER ACKERMANN︱ “Silk and Steel”
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☋ His brand:
☊ His record:
1998: DIOR
2016–2018: BERLUTI
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About
Haider Ackermann, 47, is Colombian-born, adopted by a French couple and raised both in Africa and in the Netherlands. The designer is known to have been approached by the world’s most acclaimed fashion houses. Houses Margiela, Dior and Chanel have been trying to get a hold on him for several years. Karl Lagerfeld has even gone on record saying that he believed Ackermann a worthy successor to his mantle at Chanel, a fitting compliment for one of fashion’s most talented designers. The artist has often been referred to as the “The Draped Crusador” (Independent, 2012) as a result of his eponymous flawless silky draped designs, probably resulting of his bohemian influences.
I think that’s a luxury — to have a nomadic life and to be a kind of bohemian. You feel totally free and you can adapt yourself very easily. But at the same time you can totally lose balance, because you don’t know where you belong anymore. — Haider Ackermann
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Originally published at Luxury Worldwide Service.
