The fashion landscape is no stranger to surprises. Every now and then, the scene is met with something new—from directional changes on the executive level, jaw-dropping collaboration announcements or the buzzy news of a fresh celebrity face set to represent one of the luxury maisons. With some of such news, the sartorial realm is bound to be roused, as conversation is steered towards what the change might mean for the rest of the designer world. Up top, a change in creative directorship is inevitably the most palpable—where house codes and signature silhouettes might discover reinterpretation in the hands of a new captain. The most recent of the lot? Think Daniel Lee’s debut at Burberry earlier this year or Pharrell Williams as Louis Vuitton’s latest menswear creative director.
In other cases, the fashion-forward will find themselves stirred by happenings closer to the ground—in terms of what they can admire, collect and own in their very own wardrobes. This might include the most covetable of collaborations—each one drawing in their own enthusiasts from various corners of culture. Just this year alone, we’ve seen Louis Vuitton drop their second collaboration with Yayoi Kusama, the Mugler x H&M collection and Nike drop its highly-awaited Kwondo 1 ‘Panda’ with Peaceminusone, G-dragon’s fashion label.
Amidst the buzz of affairs this month, it’s inevitable that you might have missed out on some significant drops and announcements over the past few weeks. Not to fret however, for with Vogue Singapore’s bi-weekly round-up, you can consider yourself all caught up. This week, the scene takes on a myriad of news, from large-scale executive changes to more celebrity-led ambassadorship announcements and interesting destination runway shows to look forward to. Marco Bizzarri, who has led Gucci as its CEO since 2015, has chosen to disembark from the ship and will be leaving the luxury house in September. Elsewhere, Versace chooses Stray Kids’s Hyunjin as its latest global ambassador. Post-review, Lyst has announced that Loewe is now the hottest brand in the world, making it the first time that the brand tops the list. As for the upcoming fashion calendar, it seems Chanel has chosen an unlikely destination for its Métiers d’Art 2024 show—Manchester.
Catch up on all the fashion news to know, below.
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Louis Vuitton unveils its first all-women exclusive store in Takashimaya, Ngee Ann City
Post-revamp, Louis Vuitton opens its first-ever exclusively women’s store in Singapore at Takashimaya, Ngee Ann City. Housed on level one of the shopping centre, the recently reopened store is home to a considered selection of ready-to-wear items, accessories, leather goods, fragrances and the maison’s jewellery. At every touch point of the refurbished outpost, modern elegance comes through: from its reimagining of the house’s iconic monogram using metal blades to the contemporary use of clear woods in its interior and suspended artworks dreamt up by Japanese artist Nami Sawada. That necessary dose of local fervour and heritage is not lost in the new space either, as its lilting hues are juxtaposed against vivacious artworks done by a number of Singaporean artists such as Dawn Ang (aka Aeropalmics), Jamie Tan and Bianca Kremer.
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Loewe tops Lyst's Hottest Brands Index for Q2 2023
For the first time ever, Loewe has officially been crowned the hottest brand in the world for the second quarter of 2023–swiftly ascending the charts at Lyst, topping the Lyst Index and claiming a position that was previously held by Prada, which now ranks at number two. According to the shopping platform, searches for the Spanish house went up by 19 percent due to several factors, from the release of its summer Paula Ibiza 2023 collection to its standout custom looks for Beyonce’s ‘Renaissance’ world tour and the buzzy appointment of NCT’s Taeyong as its global ambassador.
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Marco Bizzarri exits Gucci
In a surprising turn of events, Marco Bizzarri has announced his upcoming departure from Gucci. Bizzarri, who had been a member on Kering’s executive committee since 2012, was the fashion house’s CEO since 2015. On his departure, François-Henri Pinault, Kering chairman and CEO expressed: “I want to thank Marco for his spectacular contribution to the success of Gucci and of Kering, and I wish him well in his future endeavours.” Bizzarri is set to leave Gucci on 23 September, the same day which Sabato de Sarno, the maison’s new creative director will be showing his debut collection at Milan Fashion Week.
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Valentino creates digital avatars with Meta
Valentino is affirms that our relationship with the metaverse is far from over. Partnering up with tech giant Meta, the fashion house has launched a number of specially-designed digital avatar outfits that have been translated into Meta’s avatar program. Dawning six full looks, which borrows from the house’s recent collections and signature motifs, this marks Valentino’s step “towards commerce in the metaverse”. One can expect the ecstatic, vivacious pieces from its iconic pink PP collection or the monogram-forward options with a number of options rendered in the Toile Iconographe motif. By merging with Meta Avatars Store, users will be able to dress their avatars in their favourite Valentino picks across all of Meta’s platforms.
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Chanel to host its Métiers d'Art winter 2023 show in Manchester
Next on the map for Chanel? Manchester. Joining the recent pick-up in destination shows for fashion houses, the French maison has chosen the English city as its next stop for the Métiers d’Art show this year. For its previous iterations, Chanel had chosen Dakar and Tokyo as its preferred locales for the unveiling of the collections, and will be re-showing its cruise collection—previously shown in Los Angeles—in Shenzhen later this year. Whilst seemingly an unlikely location, Manchester’s rich history as an industrial hub for textiles makes it a convincing choice for the yet-to-be-revealed collection, slated for 7 December.
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Hyunjin of Stray Kids is the latest face of Versace
Since making headlines at Versace’s High Summer “La Vacanza” show in May, K-pop star Hyunjin of Stray Kids has officially been named the house’s latest global ambassador. The South Korean star joins a burgeoning slew of ambassadorship announcements that point to K-pop’s increasing prominence in the sartorial frontier—think Enhypen’s appointment for Prada or BTS’s V recent link-up with Cartier. On his appointment, he expresses his excitement: “I’m filled with anticipation and can’t wait to experience the artistic synergy with Donatella.” Hyunjin will debut as the face of Versace’s Holiday 2023 campaign in November.
