Hi, and welcome back to Line Sheet. In today’s oh-so-special Inner Circle issue, I get into Dario
Vitale’s savage exit from Versace. I also just got word from Tokyo that Justin Bieber’s Skylrk brand (did you even know about it?) seems to be blowing up over there in a sorta crazy way. Plus, discourse on the Pietro-Sidney transition at LVMH, the fashion brands (or lack thereof) at Art Basel Miami, and what the Europeans are saying as the Americans bask in their post-Chanel glow.
🛍️ For those of you with the Shoppies:
After posting images from an editorial in The Gentlewoman featuring Élise Crombez and a red lip, I received numerous queries asking for recommendations to achieve a similar look. I’m no beauty queen, but I know that the only way to find the right red lipstick is to try a billion different shades and textures because your
skin tone will determine how it shows up.
Unfortunately, Nars seems to have phased out Heat Wave, my favorite orangey red. Mischievous is similar, if not exactly the same. (Why discontinue a color? Disappointing…) I’ve also spent many years searching for the perfect brick red, and feel that I’ve found it with Violette’s Mon Chéri. Otherwise, Hermès lipstick is really great, especially when it comes to consistency. (I own several of their reds.) Sometimes, I wonder if I am the last person in the world wearing lipstick. Let’s bring it back!
Mentioned in this issue: Dario Vitale, Versace, Miuccia Prada, John Idol, Prada
Group, Donatella, Emmanuel Gintzburger, Hedi Slimane, Skylrk, Justin Bieber, Walmart Yeezy, LVMH, Sidney Toledano, Matthieu Blazy, Chanel, Michel Gondry, and many more… |
Five Things You
Should Know…
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- Justin
Bieber’s clothing line is blowing up?: Live from Tokyo, a friend sent me a video of the line outside the pop-up for Justin Bieber’s newly launched Skylrk. Without posting the video (it’s not cute), all I can tell you is that the line was very, very, very long. The clothing looks terrible—like Walmart Yeezy—but what do I know! I have a feeling this is going to be a new favorite topic for us.
- Sidney’s sendoff: Some LVMH
executives noted the brusqueness of the communications regarding the exit of Sidney Toledano from his temporary perch at the top of the Fashion Group. It doesn’t help that Toledano and his successor, Pietro Beccari, aren’t the best of friends, but it’s more likely that the announcement came together fast, perhaps sooner than originally planned.
I’ve been on the receiving end of an executive change-up exclusive in the past, and let me tell you, there isn’t
a world where they wouldn’t have preferred to provide this information to WWD ahead of time so that they could give everyone involved a few flowers. (I remember interviewing Toledano before his appointment at the Fashion Group in 2017, and him scolding me for not congratulating him. These people want to be recognized.) Anyway, Toledano is one of Arnault’s most loyal and successful soldiers, and he deserves a proper party. Let’s see what they have
planned.
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- Fashion
ices out Art Basel Miami: Everything I’m hearing is that Art Basel’s Paris edition, held in late October, has almost completely wiped out fashion’s appetite for a real presence at the Miami show, which is currently underway. No fun parties, no real cool stuff happening other than last night’s Sukeban match. There is such a thing as too much!
- Am I Matthieu-pilled?: While most people, myself included, really loved Matthieu Blazy’s second Chanel show, there were some detractors. A few things came out of the discourse (mostly with Europeans) that I think are worth addressing here.
First, this show did not have a clear throughline in
terms of silhouette like the last one did. But it was filled with color, texture, and whimsy, which is the top priority for the legacy Chanel customer. For me, that was the point—and a large part of the point of a Métiers d’art show to begin with. Also, at the re-see this morning, it was clear how fabulous the shoes and bags actually are, and how well they will do. For instance, Blazy is taking back ownership of the archaic gold-foiled logo bag stamp by making it look ultra shiny and
gilded, potentially reversing all our bad feelings about it.
Another thing: I don’t think the clothes photographed so well in the subway lighting, but oh well. It was a moment. And, yes, I, too, did not like the Michel Gondry commercial. Finally, I stand by everything I said yesterday: Blazy’s Chanel is going to lift up everyone. I promise. - A quick note from Rachel on Milk’s numbers: Yesterday, I reported that Milk
Makeup’s Sephora sales dropped about 40 percent year to date, according to YipitData. Today, Yipit reached back out to say that figure was inaccurate. According to the firm’s updated analysis, Milk Makeup’s sales at the retailer have actually declined by 22.5 percent year to date. My apologies. (A spokesperson for Milk said the reporting is inaccurate and that the brand does not comment on individual retailer performance.) —Rachel Strugatz
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The Versace creative director’s dismissal after a single critically adored season was as
ruthless as it was predictable. And there will be more to come as the Prada people quickly remake their new acquisition. |
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Over the summer, Miuccia Prada called Capri C.E.O. John Idol, who was in
the process of selling Versace to her for $1.4 billion, with a fascinating request. Mrs. Prada, according to sources familiar with the conversation, asked that Dario Vitale, her former longtime acolyte and the new creative director of the brand, not stage a runway show in September.
On some level, the ask was completely understandable. Versace was set for a transformation after the acquisition closed, and who knew what form the new strategy would take. Moreover,
nobody knew what to expect from Vitale, who had joined Versace just before the deal with the Prada Group materialized. |
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At first, the Versace team did the necessary maintenance, and told the press that the show would be reduced
to an “intimate presentation.” Then, Versace C.E.O. Emmanuel Gintzburger took a significant, undeniably gutsy risk and let Vitale stage his original vision: a runway debut, which ended up being fully, dramatically, staged, taking place in Milan’s oldest museum. At first, it seemed to pay off. The show was mesmerizing—a hit with critics, editors, and buyers alike—and Vitale became an immediate Person of Interest within the fashion community. The advertising campaigns were working,
too. Meanwhile, Team Versace pressed on through the fall, waiting patiently for regulatory bodies to allow the deal to close—and to see how Miuccia, who is also a mutual-respect friend of ousted creative director (and family heir) Donatella Versace, would respond. After all, Vitale’s exit from the Prada Group, where he was mostly recently designing Miu Miu, was fraught. (Prada is a business that prizes loyalty—and that starts at the top.)
Now we know. On Thursday, about 48 hours
after the deal officially closed, Prada fired Vitale. Lorenzo Bertelli, the Prada heir and Versace’s new executive chairman, announced his ouster, which was positioned as a mutual parting of ways, in a companywide email. |
Vitale, according to people familiar with his thinking, didn’t see it coming. Gintzburger’s team,
though, must have known it was a possibility. Succession planning at the brand had been a labored, long-gestating challenge, and the process, which began before Tapestry’s botched acquisition of Capri, was complicated by Versace family politics. Years ago, Riccardo Tisci was meant to join the Versace business—press releases were already written—but things fell apart at the last minute over simple semantics. Donatella was even said to have later become interested in
Vitale, but clashed with Gintzburger in other ways. At the same time, her awkward transition from visionary to global brand ambassador did not sit right with her loyal employees.
Alas, this was a doomed situation from the start, and the fact that Vitale’s first collection was so good—magic, even—was essentially beside the point. As with any breakup, the only people who know the truth are the ones at the heart of the matter. It’s just too bad they couldn’t get past their conflict in the
name of fashion.
Presumably, this isn’t the last shoe to drop. According to the Bertelli memo, Gintzburger is staying put, at least for now. I gained a new respect for the executive when he pushed forward with Vitale despite being directed to do otherwise, and I could see the Prada Group executive team admiring the chutzpah, even if his choice was immediately reversed. No matter what, though, Versace will be reorganized based on clinical decision-making over the next year.
Of
course, everyone is asking who might be up next. There’s always a chance the Prada Group will bring back Donatella in some sort of creative capacity, pairing her with a partner. But that’s likely not happening. My sense is that they’ll utilize her more fully as a brand ambassador, given all the goodwill she inspires and her massive audience, including 12 million Instagram followers. In Europe, there is speculation around Hedi Slimane, pinned to the ongoing “apartment in Milan”
conspiracy theory, but that overlooks simple economics. (I also don’t see a world where Slimane and Raf Simons operate within the same group.) |
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Pieter Mulier is everyone’s favorite choice in the musical chairs game,
always. While he seems more committed than ever to Alaïa, where he just built a new studio, he also has a long history working with Simons, and is capable of really anything, design-wise. (Interestingly, he speaks fondly of early Versace in the new issue of Self Service.) More creative people could come up with more names, but there is also a chance they have not yet hired a new designer, and the quick defenestration was a signal that they are going to completely overhaul the
business—and fast.
I’ve never seen something like this happen before, and I am not sure we will again. For now, though, let this be a lesson about the industry and how it might stand 10 years from now. There will be dozens of essays and Instagram posts about the tragedy of Vitale’s exit, citing the lack of patience and foresight among executives. But when it comes down to it, this is an emotional business, and an emotional product: Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t. But you’ve
got to take risks. |
I loved Gucci pre-fall. Sexy and fun. Demna is great! I’ll write more about the
pre-collections next week. [Instagram]
Dylan on how Mark Guiducci is managing out Olivia Nuzzi. [In the Room]
Romy Mars is the future.
[The Face]
Friend-of-Line Sheet Max Berlinger writes about Friend-of-Line Sheet Chris Black’s new clothing line, Hanover. (I’m really proud of him. More from me tomorrow on this!)
[New York Times]
Luca Guadagnino, scourge of costume designers everywhere, lives in Federico Marchetti’s old apartment! [T magazine] |
Until tomorrow,
Lauren
P.S.: We use affiliate links because we are a business. We may make
a couple bucks off them. |
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Puck fashion correspondent Lauren Sherman and a rotating cast of industry insiders take you deep behind the scenes of this
multitrillion-dollar biz, from creative director switcheroos to M&A drama, D.T.C. downfalls, and magazine mishaps. Fashion People is an extension of Line Sheet, Lauren’s private email for Puck, where she tracks what’s happening beyond the press releases in fashion, beauty, and media. New episodes publish every Tuesday and Friday. |
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