Givenchy has announced the resignation of Matthew M Williams, the Illinois-born designer who has been the creative director of Givenchy for four years.
With Williams set to leave on January 1, the LVMH-owned luxury brand is facing another period of uncertainty.
Under Williams and its predecessors, Riccardo Tisci and Clare Waight Keller, Givenchy has struggled to find a stable foothold in the world of luxury. Although the parent company, LVMH, did not disclose sales figures for the brand, it is suspected that these figures have declined due to Givenchy's difficulty maintaining its popularity. Industry analysts even believe that "it is difficult for Givenchy to be in the lead now, and revenues are likely to be below pre-pandemic levels." ”
With Williams at the helm, Givenchy is clearly the designer's blend of punk streetwear's signature tricks with a tailoring-oriented style. With his innate penchant for avant-garde style, Williams injected a new tone into the brand's fashion, as he did with his extensive totemic tattoos, however, this was not enough to bring Givenchy back into the spotlight and even lose loyal customers who admired the brand's traditions, after all, for a traditional French fashion brand, not all consumers will be comfortable with the style of young punks on the streets of the United States, and think that there are many betrayals of the brand.
2023 Annual Review "As I said when I came to Givenchy in 2020, it has been my life's dream to lead the creative direction of Givenchy," Williams said in a statement. "During these three years, I have worked hard to continue the legacy of Hubert de Givenchy (founder of Givenchy) while bringing my own creative vision, and I would like to thank the atelier, Renaud de Lesquen (the current CEO of Givenchy) and LVMH for giving me this incredible opportunity. "Whether Matthew M. Williams' successor will set out to erase the traces he has left on the brand, and wait for the time when the candidate will surface.