If you haven’t noticed, fashion is in its transformation era. This period of transience and switching of roles started the great game of designer musical chairs and is (almost) at its completion. While the Internet speculates about whose debut will have us gagged and whose appointment was less deserved than others, we’re wondering where the stars end up in all of this, and if they’ll follow their designer BFFs to their new houses or stay put.
A quick TL;DR of the current designer-brand relations: Jonathan Anderson is at the helm of Dior, overseeing men’s, women’s, and couture; Matthieu Blazy will usher in Chanel’s new era; Pierpaolo Piccioli is in at Balenciaga; Demna moved from Balenciaga to Gucci; Glenn Martens will lead Maison Margiela; Louise Trotter is now at Bottega Veneta; Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez are at Loewe; finally, Michael Rider is in at Celine after Hedi Slimane departed. The majority of their debuts will begin during Fashion Month in September and October 2025, save for Martens’ debut, which will be at Couture Week in July.
Several new designers have already teased their visions for their respective houses, not with runways but on red carpets — the ultimate spot for placements. Timothée Chalamet and Elle Fanning both wore Sarah Burton’s designs for Givenchy before her inaugural catwalk; Chalamet was also the first to wear Haider Ackermann’s Tom Ford. At Cannes, Julianne Moore and Vicky Krieps silently wore Trotter’s first Bottega Veneta designs. Kendrick Lamar got everyone talking as he stepped in front of the camera for Chanel’s eyewear campaign, sparking rumors of menswear finally making it to the runway. The celebrity component of fashion has never been more important, and choosing venues like the Oscars and campaigns for debuts tells us more about the current fashion landscape than the great switch-ups occurring: Fame is everything, and who wears the clothes is just as important as how the clothes look.
The right alignment between celebrity and brand can get people talking — whether it’s good or bad chit-chat is secondary. As soon as a star gets a hit television show or critically acclaimed movie under their belts, the deals are drawn up and campaigns follow shortly. Once a celebrity is locked into a contract, they’re 10 toes down and act as the conduit between their fans and the often exclusionary world of high fashion.
Now that everyone is settling into their respective ateliers, we’re here to kickstart the rumor mill. Will Ayo Edebiri break ties with Loewe and join Anderson as a face of Dior? Will Florence Pugh debut Piccioli’s Balenciaga at, say, the Venice Film Festival before his first runway show? (Shoutout to A-listers’ publicists as they navigate these murky, ever-changing waters.) One thing’s for certain: We’ll be here to cover the introductory campaigns, looks, and switcheroos to come in the following months.
