From a basement show to Dior: has fashion’s path to success changed forever?
The creative director dream is fading – and that’s not a bad thing.
By Jorinde Croese
A decade ago, the career trajectory for a fashion designer appeared straightforward: launch an independent label, generate industry buzz, and eventually helm a prestigious fashion house. Jonathan Anderson’s ascent from a small, self-started brand debuting with a basement show in 2008, to becoming creative director at Loewe in 2013 – and now, Dior – epitomised this traditional narrative. But as global luxury conglomerates have expanded exponentially, turning multi-billion-euro revenues, the route to becoming a creative director has become significantly less clear-cut. Major houses have since grown even further into corporate giants, and opportunities for emerging designers seem fewer and farther between. Now, who ends up getting the ‘top job’ is controlled by a smaller number of influential gatekeepers.
Is the traditional path from breakout designer to major fashion house still realistic, or has the industry shifted for good? From Vanessa Friedman to Daisy Hoppen, we asked 12 industry insiders what they think.
“The bigger question now isn’t can a young designer end up at a legacy house – but do they even want to?” – Gia Kuan
The end of the traditional path
Historically, young designers with independent labels often viewed appointments at major fashion houses as the pinnacle of success. Remember that period in the early 2010s when Olivier Rousteing went to Balmain aged 25? Alexander Wang then Demna Gvasalia at Balenciaga? Alessandro Michele stepping out of the shadows to take the reins at Gucci? Today’s landscape shows a dramatically altered scenario. "The bigger question now isn’t can a young designer end up at a legacy house – but do they even want to?" says publicist Gia Kuan, who represents indie brands like Luar, Telfar, and Kiko Kostadinov. "Designers are increasingly choosing independence – not because it’s easier, but because it offers more authorship, more agency, and often, more longevity."
Yasin Müjdeci, the founder of Voo Store in Berlin, echoes this sentiment, highlighting a critical shift in what major houses now expect from creative directors: "Big houses don’t just want creativity anymore – they want someone who can operate inside a corporate machine. For many young talents, stepping into that structure feels both limiting and disingenuous. You're inheriting pressure without having real space to create. So in many cases, it’s not just that the opportunity isn’t there – it’s that people don’t even want it anymore. Joining a legacy brand isn’t always the definition of success now.”
This shift also correlates with the rapid growth of luxury brands over the past decade. In 2014, LVMH reported revenues of €30.6 billion. By 2024, this figure was €84.7 billion. At Chanel, revenue grew from €6.4 billion in 2014 to €17.9 billion by 2024. This increased scale means greater pressure and complexity.
Vanessa Friedman, fashion director and chief fashion critic of The New York Times, emphasises this changing environment: "There are trends in creative director appointments just like there are trends in clothing. Right now, the trend seems to be favouring known quantities. I’d guess that’s due to the current economic climate – everyone’s nervous, and it’s hard to run a multi-billion-dollar brand. You want someone with corporate management experience. Running a $2 billion brand is very different from running a $500 million one. Back at the turn of the millennium, these groups were still relatively small. Gucci Group (now Kering) was formed in 2000. So the whole luxury fashion sector as a public business is still quite young.”
Friedman agrees that there’s less ambition from young designers to secure one of these top jobs. “I think a lot of the new generation of designers just aren’t interested in running giant brands, being employees working on someone else’s legacy. They’re making their own legacy, and I really respect that.”