As the coronavirus pandemic extended into 2021, major brands and companies were committed to bouncing back from its impact on business with new initiative and shakeups that dominated the year’s news cycle.
The biggest fashion news of 2021 included major changes at design houses, including fashion designer Daniel Lee suddenly leaving Bottega Veneta, and monumental deaths among the industry’s most revered figures, such as Virgil Abloh, Alber Elbaz and Elsa Peretti.
The year also saw several historic moments in the fashion world, such as at President Joe Biden’s and Vice President Kamala Harris’ inauguration, which put a spotlight back on American fashion, and at Paris Couture Week, which saw Pyer Moss designer Kerby Jean-Raymond make history as the first Black designer to receive a spot on the coveted calendar.
Here, WWD breaks down all the biggest fashion news stories of 2021 by month. Read on for more.
January 2021: President Joe Biden’s Inauguration Puts a Spotlight on American Fashion
Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, Vice President Kamala Harris, First Lady Jill Biden and President Joe Biden on the Capitol steps at the presidential inauguration
AP
Biden’s and Harris’ historic inauguration had a big impact on American fashion.
Both First Lady Jill Biden and Harris chose emerging American designers for their meaningful sartorial looks. The first lady wore a custom blue Markarian coat, dress and matching face mask for the ceremony, which were embellished with Swarovski pearls and crystals placed in a floral pattern. The color blue was chosen to “signify trust, confidence and stability,” according to Markarian.
Harris looked to Christopher John Rogers for her inauguration look, which consisted of a purple coat and dress accessorized with a David Yurman American flag pin. The color purple, which was also worn by former First Lady Michelle Obama and former Secretary of State and First Lady Hillary Clinton, had a significant meaning at the inauguration, as the hue “represents a blending and coming together of the red and blue, which are the two colors that represent each of the major political parties in the U.S.,” according to Laurie Pressman, vice president of the Pantone Color Institute.
Harris’ look also gave a nod to Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman elected to the U.S. Congress, who ran for president in 1972 and used purple as one of her campaign colors.
February 2021: Rihanna Pauses Fenty Fashion Brand
Rihanna at the Savage x Fenty launch
Clint Spaulding for WWD
Rihanna and LVMH announced on Feb. 10 that they would be pausing the musician’s Fenty fashion label nearly two years after its debut. The indefinite pause was brought on by challenges spawned by the ongoing pandemic and the brand’s difficulty in finding its footing upon launch.
The musician made history when she launched the brand in 2019, as it was the first time LVMH had created a brand from scratch since establishing Christian Lacroix in 1987. Rihanna is also the first Black woman to be at the head of a brand under the conglomerate.
March 2021: Teen Vogue’s Editor Controversy, Elsa Peretti Dies
Jewelry designer Elsa Peretti models her snake charmer belt-necklace and bone cuff bracelet.
WWD
Teen Vogue was embroiled in controversy in March 2021 over its newly appointed editor in chief, Alexi McCammond, whose history of racist and homophobic tweets came to light after her appointment. Many of McCammond’s tweets targeted the Asian American community, which was experiencing a rise in anti-Asian hate crimes. After weeks of backlash over the appointment, McCammond announced she would no longer take on the role.
The month also saw the passing of famed Tiffany & Co. jewelry designer Elsa Peretti, who died on March 18 at the age of 80. Peretti started her career as a model, serving as one of American fashion designer Halston’s many muses. She later joined the fine jeweler and created some of its most well-known pieces, with her minimal silver jewelry becoming a core part of the brand’s identity.
April 2021: Alber Elbaz Dies, Gucci and Balenciaga’s ‘Hacking Project’, Changes at Ferragamo
Alber Elbaz
Stephane Feugere
The fashion world was in mourning in April when former Lanvin fashion designer Alber Elbaz unexpectedly died at the age of 59 after battling COVID-19. His death came just months after Elbaz revealed his new fashion venture, AZ Factory, which he launched with Richemont.
April also saw Gucci celebrate its 100th anniversary with its “Aria” collection, which unveiled the design house’s “Hacking Project” with Balenciaga, where the two brands interpret each other’s logos, motifs and famous styles in their pieces.
Earlier in April, Salvatore Ferragamo announced that creative director Paul Andrew would be exiting the brand the following month. WWD was the first to report the news in January when market sources indicated Andrew’s contract was ending in February.
May 2021: IMG’s NYFW Fashion Alliance, Fashion and Media Sales
Backstage at Jason Wu RTW Fall 2021.
Masato Onoda/WWD
As COVID-19 restrictions were slowly being lifted, IMG looked forward to September’s New York Fashion Week with a new initiative with 11 American designers that are committed to presenting at the biannual event through 2022. The alliance includes brands and designers Telfar, Rodarte, Proenza Schouler, Altuzarra, Brandon Maxwell, Prabal Gurung, Sergio Hudson, Monse, Jason Wu, LaQuan Smith and Markarian.
The month also saw several major sales in the fashion and media spaces. Verizon Communications started the month off by selling Yahoo and AOL to private equity firm Apollo Global Management for $5 billion. Hearst Magazines followed suit by selling Marie Claire U.S. to U.K.-based media company, Future, which already owns the U.K. version of the magazine.
On the fashion side, Ralph Lauren announced it would be selling Club Monaco to private equity firm Regent after 22 years with the brand.
June 2021: Victoria’s Secret’s Rebrand, Yeezy Gap, Media Shifts
Kanye West appears on stage during a service at Lakewood Church in Houston
AP
Victoria’s Secret debuted a new look in June 2021 after its parent company, L Brands, announced it would be spinning off the lingerie brand into its own publicly held company. The lingerie brand revealed its rebrand with a new marketing campaign that included a diverse range of models and a board made up almost entirely of women. The initiative comes after L Brands founder and chairman, Les Wexner, announced in March that he was leaving the company.
There were a few major news stories to come from heritage design houses in June, including Burberry CEO Marco Gobbetti, leaving the English heritage brand for Salvatore Ferragamo, LVMH taking full control of Emilio Pucci, Richemont acquiring Belgian leather goods firm Delvaux and luxury watch company Tourneau changing its name.
Kanye West also revealed his Yeezy brand’s highly anticipated collaboration with Gap, releasing an image of a light blue puffy jacket made from recycled nylon.
June 2021 also saw several media shakeups. The New York Times’ longtime Styles editor, Choire Sicha, left his role to join New York Magazine as editor at large. Shortly after, it was announced that New York Magazine’s longtime editor of fashion vertical The Cut, Stella Bugbee, was leaving the magazine to join the New York Times as its new Styles editor. It was also revealed that Allure editor in chief Michelle Lee would be leaving the Condé Nast-owned publication to join Netflix as its vice president of editorial and publishing.
July 2021: Virgil Abloh’s LVMH Role, Phoebe Philo’s New Collection, Pyer Moss Couture
Backstage at Pyer Moss Couture Fall 2021
Timothy Smith/WWD
July 2021 saw several major news stories among fashion and beauty brands. One of the biggest came from LVMH, which revealed on July 20 that it was expanding its partnership with Virgil Abloh, Louis Vuitton men’s artistic director and Off-White designer, and raising its stake in his brand to 60 percent. The deal was meant to allow Abloh to launch more brands and seal partnerships across the conglomerate’s activities beyond the fashion division. The deal came a few months before Abloh’s sudden passing in November.
Additionally in the fashion space, it was reported that former Celine designer Phoebe Philo is planning a new collection, marking her first venture since leaving the fashion house in 2017. According to an industry source, Philo had been working on her own line when she left Chloé in 2006, but put the project on hold once she accepted the Celine job. LVMH is a minority investor in the new venture.
Jean-Raymond made history in July as the first Black fashion designer to earn a spot on the Paris Couture Week calendar. He debuted his first Pyer Moss couture collection at the Irvington, N.Y., estate of international hair care magnate Madam C.J. Walker — who is also the first self-made female millionaire in the U.S. — and presented a collection that paid homage to overlooked Black American inventions and inventors.
Balenciaga also had an impactful moment during couture week when designer Demna Gvasalia unveiled the design house’s first couture collection in 53 years. Gvasalia restored Cristóbal Balenciaga’s historic couture salon for the collection.
August 2021: Reebok’s Sale, Sephora at Kohl’s
Cardi B models her latest collaboration with Reebok
Courtesy of Reebok
Reebok found a new owner in August 2021 when it was announced that the Authentic Brands Group inked a 2.1 billion euro deal to buy the athletic brand from Adidas. The deal reunites Reebok with its star endorser, former professional basketball player Shaquille O’Neal, who has long wanted to own the brand. The sale gives ABG, which is a licensing powerhouse, a boost in the athletic category just before its planned IPO this summer.
Additionally in August, Sephora and Kohl’s debuted their much-anticipated shop-in-shop initiative, where the beauty giant is bringing more than 125 prestige beauty brands to 850 of the mid-tier retailer’s locations across the U.S.
September 2021: Return of NYFW, Met Gala
Billie Eilish in Oscar de la Renta
Lexie Moreland/WWD
September saw the return of many in-person events, including New York Fashion Week, which hosted its first mostly in-person fashion week since the pandemic started. Many brands returned for the spring 2022 season, including Jeremy Scott for Moschino and Thom Browne, who showed in New York instead of Europe to lend their support to American fashion.
New York Fashion Week was followed by the 2021 Met Gala, also the first edition since the pandemic started. This year’s theme was “In America: A Lexicon of Fashion,” to celebrate the strides in American fashion. The event was co-chaired by Timothée Chalamet, Billie Eilish, Amanda Gorman and Naomi Osaka.
Aside from the in-person events, September also saw the debut of Fendi and Versace’s collaboration, which marked the first time both design house’s swapped creative directors, with Donatella Versace creating a collection for Fendi and Kim Jones creating a collection for Versace. The collections were presented in a joint fashion show and pieces were modeled by the likes of Naomi Campbell, Gigi Hadid, Amber Valletta, Kate Moss and others.
October 2021: Facebook Goes Meta, Dotdash Acquires Meredith, Fendi X Skims
Fendi x Skims
Many of October’s biggest news stories fell under media. One of the biggest news items came from Facebook, which announced it was rebranding under the new name Meta. The change was indicative of the company’s ambitions to bring about the metaverse, which is a shared virtual environment that unites AR, VR and smart devices.
Additionally, media conglomerate Dotdash revealed it was acquiring Meredith Corp. — which publishes People, InStyle, Entertainment Weekly and others — in a deal estimated to be worth $2.7 billion. The new company is now called Dotdash Meredith.
On the fashion side, Fendi embarked on another major collaboration, this time with Kim Kardashian West’s shapewear brand, Skims. The collection was codesigned by Jones and Kardashian West and included shapewear pieces and dresses featuring the Fendi logo. The two brands came out with a second drop of the collaboration in December.
November 2021: Virgil Abloh Dies, Daniel Lee Leaves Bottega Veneta
Virgil Abloh
Lexie Moreland/WWD
The world was stunned in November at the sudden news that Virgil Abloh, founder and designer of luxury streetwear brand Off-White and artistic director of men’s wear at Louis Vuitton, passed away at the age of 41 after a private two-year battle with cancer.
Abloh was looked to in the industry as a visionary, bringing streetwear into the mainstream fashion lexicon and paving the way for other streetwear designers to follow suit. He was also one of the first Black designers to helm a major design house. He was equally committed to his fashion lines as he was supporting younger generations, raising $1 million in scholarships for Black fashion students.
November also saw one of the biggest shakeups at a fashion house with designer Daniel Lee’s sudden departure from Bottega Veneta after over three years as creative director. Lee is credited with injecting the heritage brand with a fresh dose of modernity and youthfulness with many of his sleek and playful accessories, which have gone on to become some of the brand’s most popular items.
While it was unclear what led to Lee’s sudden departure, the design house announced shortly after that he would be succeeded by Mattieu Blazy, who already served as design director of the brand.
December 2021: Chanel’s New CEO, Guram Gvasalia at Vetements
Leena Nair joins Chanel from Unilever, where she had a 30-year career.
Courtesy
Chanel announced in December that Leena Nair would be the company’s new global chief executive officer, assuming the title from Chanel co-owner Alain Wertheimer, who is now taking on the position of global executive chair. Nair is the youngest and first female chief executive officer at Chanel and the appointment is seen as a way for the company to boost its diversity and inclusion goals.
Vetements also saw a change in its executive team, with cofounder Guram Gvasalia — who is also the chief executive officer of the brand — taking on the additional title of creative director. The brand has been without a creative director since Gvasalia’s brother and co-founder, Demna Gvasalia, stepped down from Vetements in September 2019.
The month ended with Italian fashion company Zegna publicly listing on the New York Stock Exchange. Shares climbed on the company’s first day on Dec. 20, closing up 4.2 percent at $10.74.
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Source: wwd.com