Is Louise Trotter’s Carven Departure the Start of a Great Designer Reshuffle?
Louise Trotter’s departure from Carven is a sign that something big could be happening at the head of a few fashion brands. However, it’s still not entirely clear what that something is.
Trotter, formerly the creative director of Lacoste and Joseph, has only been at Carven for three seasons, named as the brand’s new creative director in February 2023. And, by and large, the response has been positive: the designer brought a refined, sophisticated, and tastefully playful edge to the brand — it was a prime example of quiet luxury done right.
Trotter leaving Carven likely isn’t a sign that the brand is in decline under her lead, instead, it looks to be spurred along by another brand’s interest in the designer.
As reported earlier this week, industry rumors point toward Trotter joining Bottega Veneta, replacing current creative director Matthieu Blazy.
Blazy, meanwhile, a relatively unknown designer working behind the scenes at Bottega before taking the reigns at the brand in 2021, is widely being tipped to be Chanel’s new creative director.
Now, it is true that every creative director in fashion has seemingly been linked with the Chanel top job — Simon Jacquemus, Hedi Slimane, John Galliano, Grace Wales Bonner, Phoebe Philo… I could go on — however, it looks like the ongoing Chanel rumors will finally be silenced.
Mathieu Blazy is widely reported as the front-runner for the Chanel job. And has been for some time now, to the extent that his Chanel hiring is starting to feel like a soon-to-be-announced inevitability.
Fashion’s endless game of creative director musical chairs is ramping up.
