What’s the point of hiring a creative director?

Paris Fashion Week promised new eras. But the real question isn’t who got the job. It’s whether any house became more convincing. Courrèges and Carven delivered true debuts. Drew Henry expanded Courrèges beyond space-age minimalism. Kai Nesselrath brought Carven back to sculptural restraint. Elsewhere, the honeymoon is over. Piccioli is still negotiating Balenciaga’s architecture, Demna’s disruption, and his own romance. At Loewe, McCollough and Hernandez replaced Anderson’s spectacle with something quieter. Is clarity enough when the last era was impossible to ignore? Sarah Burton gave Givenchy authority. Michael Rider made Celine desirable. Klausner’s Dries felt like continuation. Tron’s Balmain is still searching. Two ideas of authorship: Glenn Martens made Margiela his own, louder and more physical. Alaïa continues without a star designer. And at Saint Laurent, Vaccarello’s ten years in gold was confirmed this morning as a farewell. Sales nearly tripled during his tenure, cresting at €3.3 billion in 2022, then slid 9% and 6% in 2024 and 2025. Kering called it a new chapter. The season’s real lesson isn’t about who won. It’s that creative directors aren’t fired for bad design. They’re fired for bad numbers. So which house actually found a new voice, and which one just changed the name on the door? 👇 Explore more inspiration stories on #reversible