Ahead of last year\u2019s September runway-show season, practically everyone in the fashion industry agreed that change was overdue. Across the board, slowed-down spending was discouraging bold ideas. Critics and consumers were bored. So were designers themselves\u2014even the highest-profile creative directors were fantasizing about a shake-up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What transpired was more of an earthquake. Over the next eight months, more than a dozen luxury houses replaced their designers in a flurry of hirings, sudden departures, retirements, realignments, and shifting alliances that at times felt like luxury Game of Thrones.<\/em> By the time the dust settled, Balenciaga\u2019s creative director was at Gucci, Gucci\u2019s ex-star was at Valentino, and Valentino\u2019s designer was at Balenciaga. Dior was under one designer\u2019s control for the first time since Christian; Dries Van Noten and Donatella Versace had named successors after hanging up their shears; and three Americans had moved to Paris to join the LVMH big leagues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So who will be the knight in shining armor to rescue us from the clutches of (gasp!) quiet luxury? Which houses will burn down in the process? And who will be able to wrestle fashion into a bold new era? (Remember, men\u2019s fashion\u2019s streetwear revolution wouldn\u2019t have taken place without a series of reshuffles nearly a decade ago.) On the cusp of another September, here\u2019s what to know about who seized power in the battle for the future of fashion.<\/p>\n\n\n
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