The tectonic plates of the fashion world are shifting once again.
On Friday, LVMH confirmed that Kim Jones would be stepping down from his post as women’s wear designer at Fendi after four years, but that he would remain as artistic director of Dior men’s wear, a job he has held since 2018.
The news comes just over a week after LVMH, the world’s largest luxury group, announced that Hedi Slimane would be leaving Celine and would be replaced by Michael Rider. News that itself came after LVMH’s decision to sell Off-White, the brand founded by Virgil Abloh, to the American firm Bluestar Alliance, the owner of brands like Limited Too; buy the celebrity magazine Paris Match; and sign a 10-year deal with Formula One.
The Fendi announcement provides resolution to at least one of the maelstrom of rumors that have been swirling around the fashion world all summer, roiling the industry to such an extent that they practically overshadowed the clothes during the recent round of ready-to-wear shows.
For seasons, whispers had held that Mr. Jones was not long for Fendi, creating a cloud of doubt that hung over the brand no matter what was actually going on. And despite the against-the-odds nature of the task Mr. Jones had been given.
A celebrated men’s wear designer whose work for Dior — and Vuitton before that — had been transformative for both brands, Mr. Jones had never done women’s wear before taking on Fendi. And he wasn’t just trying his hand at a new discipline; he was splitting his time (and mind) between two different houses and stepping into the footsteps of Karl Lagerfeld, the mythic designer who had transformed both Fendi, where he worked for 54 years, and Chanel. Even if Mr. Lagerfeld’s work for Fendi was less definitive than his work for Chanel — other than creating the concept of “fun fur,” he had never really established a recognizable identity for the brand —, his profile was so high it obscured the creative confusion.