Proenza Schouler Designers Are Stepping Down. What It Means.

For months now, the style rumor mill has been operating rampant about artistic administrators taking up main manufacturers. As we speak, a clue lastly got here: Proenza Schouler founders Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez are stepping down from their namesake model. Whereas it has not been introduced, the rumor is that they’re heading to Loewe. And, once more, it’s only a rumor that the present Loewe designer, Jonathan Anderson, is headed to Dior (the place Maria Grazia Chiuri has been the artistic director since 2016). However these speculations had been solely fueled yesterday when the New York Trend Week calendar got here out and Proenza Schouler (arguably probably the most anticipated present in New York) was noticeably absent from the listing: Does that imply our homegrown boys are already working away in Paris? What we do know is that McCollough and Hernandez have been desirous about doing one thing in Europe, primarily for their very own artistic causes. They’ve been on the lookout for a brand new alternative for a while and the choice to step down from their model is a sign that they’ve one thing lined up.

As for Anderson, the Reduce’s style critic Cathy Horyn acknowledged final season that her guess was on him heading to Dior, LVMH’s crown jewel. Final September, it appeared like a remaining bow after what felt like an anniversary present the place Anderson’s movie star mates and high-ranking officers from the style conglomerate had been current. The rumors are so intense that they embody Anderson has even arrange an off-site studio in Paris. The overall feeling is that Dior might use a change.

The Loewe speculations had been sparked final summer time when Louis Pisano, a style commentator primarily based in Paris, tweeted a screenshot of a textual content he obtained about Jonathan Anderson leaving Loewe, “confirmed from jw himself.” However since nothing occurred for months, folks appeared to neglect about it. This week, Puck’s Lauren Sherman reported the shuffle amongst Proenza, Loewe, and Dior via a number of nameless sources however couldn’t get any of the manufacturers on the document concerning the shift.

What set off this most up-to-date shift within the style trade was that in June 2024, probably the most coveted place in style — the artistic director at Chanel — turned accessible when Virginie Viard left. Out of the blue, everybody who’d ever made clothes with mass enchantment and a gargantuan price ticket to match had their title tossed into the ring: Jeremy Scott of Moschino fame (after a dialog wherein he appeared “nervous” speaking about Chanel with a style author went viral), Pierpaolo Piccioli, Hedi Slimane, Sarah Burton, Marc Jacobs, Haider Ackermann, John Galliano, Phoebe Philo, and Simon Porte Jacquemus had been all within the rumor mill. In October 2024, Matthieu Blazy was named artistic director of Chanel, and on the identical day it was introduced that Carven artistic director Louise Trotter would take over at Bottega Veneta.

So the place does this depart us now in designer musical chairs? The manufacturers that don’t have artistic administrators are: Fendi (the place Kim Jones left in October of final 12 months and is a chance for LVMH to herald younger expertise); Margiela (the place, in December of final 12 months, Galliano introduced his exit after 10 years and a remaining, monumental efficiency at Paris Couture Week), Carven, and, as of at this time, Proenza Schouler. Among the many apparent huge names swirling round who aren’t at the moment in a job are Hedi Slimane (who left his submit at Celine in October after seven years), Pierpaolo Piccioli (who left Valentino in March), and Galliano.

Who does all of this shifting and reconfiguration profit? There was a sentiment that the speed wherein designers are anticipated to churn out new collections (learn: yield outcomes to their guardian corporations’ backside line) has turn out to be too dizzying and a notable result in burnout. Alessandro Michele talked about this at Gucci for years earlier than heading to Valentino. In 2022, backstage, he informed Cathy Horyn that “garments aren’t sufficient at this time” and “I’m a slave to things,” and that “attempting to do issues in a big approach requires lots of ardour.” But when these manufacturers can get it proper, and the rumor mill has these placements pegged, maybe that is the passing of the baton that style wants — one thing contemporary, new, and thrilling that sits simply past the horizon.