Vogue Business

How should brands handle creative director transitions? After his Autumn/Winter 2025 show for BALENCIAGA, creative director Demna told Vogue’s Sarah Mower that all he wants to do is design clothes for his customers. “Fashion has become like this giant rumour mill — which is fun too, because people like the guessing game. But I think in that fog of rumours, what is important?” he said. “Sometimes, I read more about rumours, and about who is going where than what we really want from fashion now.” It makes sense that the rumour mill was top of mind for Demna. Three days later, Kering announced that he had been appointed to the vacant creative director position at Gucci. Demna was an eleventh-hour entrant into the hotly discussed debate about who would lead Gucci next, following Sabato De Sarno’s January exit. Other vacancies lasted much longer: who would replace Virginie Viard at CHANEL was a gossip frenzy. When Bottega Veneta’s Matthieu Blazy was appointed to the role in December, triggering a chain of further announcements, it was already a known prophecy among fashion insiders. Jonathan Anderson’s exit from Loewe, announced last Monday, inspired a rush of “I told you so” Instagram posts from commentators. And just this morning, it became official that Anderson’s successors would be Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez — a rumour that was published shortly after the designer-founders announced they were leaving Proenza Schouler in January. As fashion’s creative leadership froths, how should brands navigate the rumour mill and handle creative director transitions to minimise disruption? Here, Hilary Milnes breaks it down. https://lnkd.in/e88UccjB

Exclusive: Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez on their appointment at Loewe. The founders and former creative directors of Proenza Schouler are succeeding Jonathan Anderson at the helm of Loewe. “The house’s values have always spoken to us and align very closely with our own: a commitment to craft and the arts, the freedom and love of experimentation and pushing boundaries, and, of course, a deep engagement with culture,” the designer duo said. “These are all things we’ve consistently pursued at Proenza Schouler, albeit on a smaller, more independent scale. The goal is to honour the codes of the house through the lens of our own cultural histories and personal aesthetic perspectives. The role of a creative director today, in our view, is to highlight the brand’s core identity in a new way and make it resonate with the current moment.” On the eve of the announcement, they spoke to Vogue Business about their appointment at the LVMH-owned Spanish fashion house. https://lnkd.in/dd87F2yE

As fashion’s rumour mill churns, gossip about who’s going where has usurped the conversation and unsettled internal teams. Join us on Monday at 5pm GMT for The Luxury Lowdown as Executive European Editor Kirsty McGregor and Executive Americas Editor Hilary Milnes break down the real impact of fashion's creative director reshuffle.

Curvaceous silhouettes were all over the Autumn/Winter 2025 catwalks, but you had to look hard to find curvy models. Here are our key takeaways from the Vogue Business AW25 size inclusivity report.

Why escapism is the new marketing currency. For years, authenticity has ruled the marketing playbook. Brands scrambled to appear real, relatable and down to earth; leveraging influencer culture, behind-the-scenes content and raw, unfiltered storytelling to connect with consumers. But in 2025, relatability has reached a breaking point. In an age of digital surveillance, economic instability and political unrest, consumers are seeking fantasy and escapism from culture and brands. The modern world bombards us with information, reducing reality to a cycle of crisis and irony. It’s driving a cultural shift — one that embraces fantasy as a means of emotional and creative renewal. And brands should tap in to win consumers in 2025. “I think we’re on the precipice of a more chaotic and re-energised approach to dealing with our very fractured realities, and escapism via the surreal is a part of this. We can only stomach so much irony and cynicism before we start needing something to believe in again,” says Sui-Sien Donovan, creative strategist at creative studio Mørning, which works with the likes of Nike, Calvin Klein and Jimmy Choo. How are brands leaning in? Amy Francombe breaks it down. https://lnkd.in/eB9PrXt9 Photos: Jacqumeus/Lisa Jahovic

How Vinted found another gear in the resale race. Five years ago, Vinted was just a fledgling player on the sidelines of the British secondhand fashion market, struggling to replicate its stronghold over continental Europe. Now, walk into any UK post office and you will likely encounter at least one person dropping off or picking up a Vinted parcel. The resale platform has had a stellar year. Its revenues grew 61% between 2022 and 2023, raking in net profits of €17.8 million in 2023 versus a net loss of €20.4 million the year prior. Its 2024 earnings have yet to be published, but marketplace CEO Adam Jay — who sits under Vinted Group CEO Thomas Plantenga, and is driving Vinted’s expansion — says the app is “growing very well”. Jay says Vinted is on track for rapid expansion — first in luxury fashion, then everything else. Here, Bella Webb has the story. https://lnkd.in/e3xxerf9

Paid Partnership | Female business leaders tell all at SXSW. At a dinner hosted by Vogue Business in partnership with the UK's Department for Business and Trade, GREAT Trade and Investment for International Women’s Day, over 50 industry executives gathered during the festival to discuss how creativity and innovation can drive change. Attendees across the fashion and beauty industries from companies including LVMH, Tapestry, Estée Lauder, L'Oréal, Vestiaire Collective, adidas and Unilever mingled with entrepreneurs and business leaders, before sitting down for a meal accompanied by a short talk with speakers Samata Pattinson, founder of cultural sustainability organisation Black Pearl, Shelley Zalis, founder of media and experiential company The Female Quotient and Jamila Saidi, head of commerce, culture and lifestyle at DBT. What are our key takeaways from the event? Here, we break it down. https://lnkd.in/es9eV5Wn

In 2025, dupe culture has fully taken hold. Want The Row’s Margaux, but can’t afford the $5,000 price tag? Cos’s $390 Bowling Bag is lauded as the high street’s best dupe yet. Or maybe a version of The Row’s viral $890 woven Mara flats are more to your taste — you can find strikingly similar pairs available on Amazon for sub-$40. Dupe culture has changed how we shop, as copycat products explode in mainstream acceptance and mass market availability. They’re cheap alternatives to premium or luxury products, but don’t typically replicate trademarked logos or details, which generally means they are legal and not counterfeit. (Though they can veer into counterfeit territory if the initial product design is trademarked.) These remakes are available everywhere from Amazon to the high street, and they’ve gotten a rebrand. “The diminutive ‘dupe’ has replaced more negative terms like copycat, replica, knock-off and counterfeit,” says Susan Scafidi, founder and director of the Fashion Law Institute at Fordham Law School. “Not coincidentally, some younger consumers in particular have come to view dupes as a sign of shopping savvy, indicating that the buyer has the sartorial knowledge to recognise the original but the financial cleverness to buy the copy instead.” Here, Madeleine Schulz breaks down what to know about dupes for consumers — and how brands can deal with the legal and cultural ramifications. https://lnkd.in/eH7B7sUc

Who won fashion month AW25 on social media? This season generated $768 million in earned media value (EMV), a 9% dip from SS25 but a substantial 46% increase from AW24, according to influencer marketing platform Lefty and brand agency Karla Otto. With AW25 menswear, couture week, Copenhagen and Berlin Fashion Weeks all taking place between January and February, the Autumn/Winter womenswear season often struggles to match the reach of the Spring/Summer shows in September, largely due to audience fatigue. This was evident in the decline of EMV across major cities, with #MilanFashionWeek generating $190 million, down 28% from SS25, and #NewYorkFashionWeek generating $59.6 million, a 55% drop compared with SS25. Shifting audience behaviours, event clashes and the rise of regional star power defined the Autumn/Winter 2025 season on social media. Who made the biggest impact, and what does it say about where the industry is headed? Here, Lucy Maguire and Amy Francombe breaks it down. https://lnkd.in/e7T-3c58

Can #Topshop really be revived? With its genre-defining Kate Moss collaboration, its experiential curated stores (with whole sections divided by trends and aesthetics from boho to indie) and its tie-ins with British luxury labels like JW Anderson, Meadham Kirchhoff and Christopher Kane, for scores of millennials and older Gen Zs, Topshop was the pinnacle of British fashion. While its influence has ebbed and flowed over the last decade, amid its financial collapse in the late 2010s and ultimate sale to Asos in 2021, a recent surge in ‘Britishcore’ has propelled Topshop lore online. Last year, #Asos sold a 75% stake in Topshop (equivalent to £135 million) to Heartland — an arm of Bestseller, the Danish fashion business owned by Asos majority shareholder Anders Povlsen. Now, the brand is teasing a return of its bricks-and-mortar stores. Consumers are thrilled, while some analysts and brand experts are confident that with the right positioning, Topshop 3.0 could bear fruit. But Lucy Maguire asks: in the middle of an economic downturn and a challenging retail environment, can Topshop fully return to its former glory? https://lnkd.in/eE4ezJWk