Opinion | Going out in style: fashion 2012 retrospective
From bitter battles to the rise of the Brits,Divia Harilela looks back at the highs and lows in fashion in 2012
Last week, Suzy Menkes of the lamented the fact that fashion designers have become commodities traded by luxury brands. A look at the hiring, firing and resignations this year only confirms it.
Making headlines were Brioni, who replaced creative director Jason Basmajian with Brendan Mullane, and Yves Saint Laurent (creative director Stefano Pilati left in March only to land at Ermenegildo Zegna's women's brand Agnona a few months later). Christopher Kane departed from Versace's younger line Versus, fuelling speculation that he was joining Balenciaga as creative director. Then hot British designer Jonathan Anderson confirmed that he would be designing a capsule collection with Versus.
But the biggest shock of the year came from Balenciaga. In November the brand's much loved creative director Nicolas Ghesquière resigned from a position that he had held for 15 years. It was announced that New York cool kid Alexander Wang would be replacing him, making him one of the few Asian faces at the helm of a French luxury brand. Let's just hope he's not a one-season wonder.
No one likes to air their dirty laundry in public -unless they are part of the fashion pack. Petty squabbles took on epic proportions this year thanks to the media and one too many bruised egos.
