What fashion designers need to know today

Discover the most relevant industry news and information for fashion designers, updated every month so you can stand out in job interviews, promotion conversations, or perform better in the workplace by increasing your market knowledge and emulating industry leaders. market.

BoF Careers distills business intelligence from the full breadth of our content – ​​editorial briefings, newsletters, case studies, podcasts, and events – to deliver key takeaways and learnings tailored to your job role, listed alongside a selection of the hottest live jobs. exciting announcements by BoF. career partners.

Key articles and information needed for today’s design professionals:

1. How does a brand like Louis Vuitton choose a new designer?

Louis Vuitton has spent almost a year searching for a successor for Virgil Abloh, who passed away in November 2021 at just 41 years old. (False images)

The most important thing is that the candidates are able to establish a clear point of view. If they have their own label, they must also convince recruiters that they have the skills to simultaneously generate two separate and distinct visions, even if they are linked by an underlying focus.

Increasingly, a candidate’s personal brand is also a factor. If they have their own supporters and can bring those supporters along for the ride, that can be seen as a huge advantage. [Virgil] Abloh did this exceptionally well. Gabriela Hearst has also brought the eco-consciousness at the core of her personal brand to her work at Chloé with some success (her Nama sneaker, made from low-impact materials, is a bestseller).

Related jobs:

Head of Design, Sahara — London, UK

Concept Design & Styling Lead, Ralph Lauren — New York, United States

Design Manager, Aje — Sydney, Australia

two. Why Eileen Fisher’s approach to sustainable fashion works

Eileen Fisher | Source: Shutterstock Eileen Fisher. (Shutterstock)

Eileen Fisher’s first and most important innovation was to take a concept that was seeping into luxury circles (minimalist capsule wardrobes) and make it accessible to a broader group of people. Today, brands of all price points tout her handpicked collections of elevated basics, but Fisher was there downstairs.

Fisherman [also] had the luxury of spending so much time on circularity before there was an obvious payoff with consumers, and weathering periods when sales were in decline, in large part because it hasn’t taken outside investment (the brand, profitable at all except for a handful of years since its founding, it is owned by the workers). This is perhaps why there are about 60 Eileen Fisher stores instead of 600, and why sales reached $500 million instead of $5 billion.

Related jobs:

Production Manager, Completedworks — London, UK

Junior Sustainable Packaging Manager, Zalando — Berlin, Germany

Director of Sustainable Design, Trainer — New York, United States

3. Why Hermès’ MetaBirkins Lawsuit Holds So Much at Stake for Brands and Creators

The MetaBirkins, which are not Hermès, not even bags. (Mason Rothschild)

the [MetaBirkins] The case is already shaping how the industry thinks about NFTs from a legal perspective. In his order, the judge made it clear that NFTs, despite being a code that points to an image, can qualify as artistic expression, which means, more importantly, they could be protected as freedom of expression by the first amendment to the US constitution, according to Felicia Boyd. , US director of IP trademarks at the law firm Norton Rose Fulbright. Commodities like mass-produced reprints of artwork do not receive such protection.

Court [also] recognized that there is a distinction between MetaBirkins and a digital handheld device. It’s not yet clear if any eventual decision would address whether the law should treat them differently, but the point isn’t moot as digital creators make and sell items for use in online spaces from Roblox to The Sandbox, a new blockchain-powered world. .

Related jobs:

CAD Assistant, A-Cold-Wall — London, UK

Digital Art Director, Acne Studios — Stockholm, Sweden

3D Design Assistant, Calvin Klein — New York, United States

Four. The Next Big Eco Fashion Idea: Turning Pollution Into Products

A dress from Zara’s capsule collection that contains materials derived from captured carbon. (zara)

Efforts to develop materials from captured emissions are incipient, in many cases still under development in the laboratory. Products currently on the market typically contain only a small amount of recycled carbon and face significant financial and structural barriers to scaling.

A landmark climate bill enacted in the US this month could help change that. […] The Reduce Inflation Act is a sweeping package of legislation that represents the most aggressive climate action ever taken by the US government. It is designed to pump hundreds of billions of dollars into technologies that will help the country meet global climate goals, including carbon sequestration.

Related jobs:

Children’s fashion designer, Zara — La Coruña, Spain

Design Intern, by Malene Birger — Bredgade, Denmark

Ready-to-Wear Design Consultant, Lingua Franca — New York, United States

5. The great rise of fashion shows

The finale of Dior’s Fall/Winter 2022 Haute Couture show. (Indigital)

This year saw the biggest luxury brands come out of lockdown, with Dior hosting a staggering eight shows since January 2022, up from seven during the same period in 2019. Chanel and Louis Vuitton have presented five this year. While top spenders fly out and sit in the front row hoping to drop six figures on a collection, the content created by those very important clients and other attendees reads as much more authentic than content conceived solely for Internet.

However, producing spectacular fashion shows often costs millions of euros, so the biggest brands have an advantage. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Dior, which generated about $7 billion in sales in 2021, according to estimates, and is believed to be the fastest-growing megabrand in the last 12 months, has staged the most shows of any other during that same period.

Related jobs:

Design Assistant, Prada Group — Milan, Italy

Designer, Vetements — Zurich, Switzerland

Showroom Designer, PVH — Amsterdam, The Netherlands

6. What designers can learn from Issey Miyake

There are profound lessons for fashion designers around the world embedded in the life and work of the Japanese innovator, whose death was announced this week, writes Angelo Flaccavento. (False images)

[One Issey] Miyake’s lesson: abandon nostalgia. Since he established Miyake Design Studio in Tokyo in 1970, [the designer] has been steadily moving forward, channeling countless advances in construction and manufacturing. Resolutely rooted in the moment, he continued to look forward rather than backward, while continuing to nurture a keen awareness of past traditions.

Creating garments that move rather than simply look good in a static image, the main curse of contemporary fashion, was another key achievement for Miyake. The fluid shapes and volumes he conceived were meant to float around the body; His silhouettes were never static, because movement was always part of his creative process. So was the space between her clothes and her body. Miyake’s epic collaboration with Irving Penn was a testament to that.

Related jobs:

Senior Fashion Designer, Anest Collective — Milan, Italy

Fashion Design Intern, Deity New York — New York, United States

Associate Designer, White House Black Market — Fort Myers, United States

7. Explained: Why the menswear market is on fire

Sales of menswear at luxury retailer Matches Fashion are up 40 percent compared to this time last year. (Joachim Muller)

The rise of menswear is largely fueled by a fashion reboot. The informalization of menswear had begun long before the pandemic, but the new work-from-home lifestyle that emerged in 2020 has cemented new silhouettes that prioritize comfort.

Lower barriers to entry and the proliferation of social media created opportunities for new brand launches. New luxury cult brands like Aimé Leon Dore have captured the spirit of contemporary menswear, tapping into trends like “blokecore,” a viral subculture that celebrates middle-aged men’s style, such as wide-legged jeans, cardigans padded, poles and bucket. hats. The blokecore hashtag has over 27 million views on TikTok.

Related jobs:

Head of Menswear, Hugo Boss — Stuttgart, Germany

Accessory Designer, Peter Millar — Los Angeles, United States

Male Associate Designer, Figs — Santa Monica, United States

8. How to let shoppers know your brand is worth it

In the event of an economic downturn, brands will rely on messages that mark their products as good value to consumers. (Shutterstock)

Despite all the bad economic headlines, consumer spending remains strong in the US and some other major markets. But retailers are concerned that their customers will soon start looking at their wallets, particularly when it comes to non-essential fashion and beauty purchases.

For the case to be effective, the labels need to do more than introduce some new buzzwords into their ads. They will need to strengthen their brand narrative, make sure they market truly timeless pieces rather than chasing trends, and be honest in their marketing.

Related jobs:

Print Designer, Stella McCartney — London, UK

Atelier Design Intern, Gauge81 — Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Associate Ready-to-Wear Designer, Veronica Beard — New York, United States

Source: www.businessoffashion.com