Louis Vuitton named U.S. musician and entrepreneur Pharrell Williams creative director of its menswear division at the beginning of 2023. The position had been left unfilled since the death of Virgil Abloh in November 2021. Over the years Williams has founded several clothing brands, including Billionaire Boys Club and Icecream, the streetwear labels he launched with Japanese designer Nigo. He also scored a collaboration with Nike in 2004, which was followed by shoe designs for brands including Reebok and Timberland. In 2014, the artist entered a long-term partnership with Adidas and in 2017 he dropped a sneaker with Chanel.
In October 2023, Kering chose Seán McGirr for the role of creative director at Alexander McQueen. He succeeded Sarah Burton, who had been at the creative helm of the brand since the founder’s death in 2010. McGirr previously served as head of menswear at JW Anderson and before that worked at Dries Van Noten on the womenswear collection. His résumé also includes stints at Burberry and Christopher Lemaire for Uniqlo.
In December 2023, Tod’s confirmed Matteo Tamburini as the new creative director, in charge of both the women’s and men’s collections, following the departure of Walter Chiapponi. Previously, Tamburini had worked for Bottega Veneta since 2017 with former creative director Tomas Maier.
Pelagia Kolotouros was tapped as the latest creative director by Lacoste in February 2023, after the brand parted ways with Louise Trotter. Kolotouros cut her teeth at Theory and Calvin Klein, where she was design director of its men’s line until 2014. Recently she was in charge of developing the Adidas textile, footwear, women’s and men’s collections for collaborations such as Ivy Park and Pharrell Williams.
Chemena Kamali has been the creative director at Chloé since October 2023, succeeding Gabriela Hearst, who ended her three-year collaboration with the brand in June. Kamali already worked at Chloé under both Phoebe Philo and Clare Waight Keller earlier in her career until 2016, when she departed to become Saint Laurent’s women’s ready-to-wear design director under Anthony Vaccarello. The designer also has worked for Alberta Ferretti and Strenesse.
Rochas picked Alessandro Vigilante as its new designer at the end of 2023, although he had already been working for the brand since May, contributing to the spring 2024 collection. The Italian designer succeeded Charles de Vilmorin, who closed his uneven two-year tenure in April 2023. Vigilante has worked in the studios of such brands as The Attico, Dolce & Gabbana, Philosophy di Lorenzo Serafini and Gucci under Alessandro Michele.
