It's been a big few days for fashion news. It feels like that happens regularly these days, as creative directors and chief executives play what seems to be an endless game of musical chairs – moving from fashion house to fashion house.
The biggest news is that after 11 years, Jonathan Anderson is leaving Loewe; Donatella Versace is stepping aside as creative director of the brand that carries her name, and Demna is leaving Balenciaga to take over at Gucci.
Jonathan Anderson out at Loewe
After weeks of rumours, it has finally happened. On Monday, it was confirmed that Jonathan Anderson had exited Loewe after 11 years. He helped transform the brand from a well-regarded, but slightly dusty Spanish leather house to a brand on the very cutting edge of fashion.
Recognised for his iconoclastic approach and a willingness to upend codes, Anderson is also known for an ability to tap into what people want. Under his tenure, Loewe has shown huge growth, both in sales and reputation, transforming it from being quiet and restrained into a bold brand observers look to to understand the direction of the broader fashion market.
No further information has been released on who will replace the British designer at Loewe, or where he is moving to. There is an broadly accepted assumption that he will stay within the LVMH portfolio, perhaps moving to take over at Dior's menswear division. That role was vacated by Kim Jones in January this year.
Donatella Versace steps aside
Versace's departure comes after almost 30 years in the role. She was by her brother Gianni's side when he launched the house in 1978 and was his muse for every collection. When he was murdered in 1997, she stepped up and took control, continuing his vision through her own grief. Now she is stepping aside to take on the role of global brand ambassador, handing the chief designer reins to former Miu Miu design director Dario Vitale.
Vitale is credited, in part at least, with the recent sales surge at Miu Miu, which has tapped into the desires of dynamic, younger clients. The Prada Group, which owns both Prada and Miu Miu, is thought to be inching closer to purchasing Versace, so the arrival of Vitale will be seen as a something of a new era at the beloved, but somewhat tired, label.
Demna moves from Balenciaga to Gucci
Georgian designer Demna – who dropped his surname Gvasalia a few years ago – is shifting from one Kering-owned company to another. He has been creative director at Balenciaga since 2015, overseeing soaring sales and huge success. He has reinstated Balenciaga's couture atelier to great acclaim and helped bring oversized clothes and gigantic trainers into the everyday.
However, his tenure has not been without mistakes. He survived a series of them after a period away from the spotlight and a promise to remain focused on design over notoriety. Now, after almost ten years at Balenciaga, he is seeking a new challenge at Gucci.
Gucci is the biggest brand owned by Kering, but sales flagged under the maximalist approach of former creative director Alessandro Michele. The pared-back offerings of his successor, Sabato de Sarno, failed to improve things. When De Sarno quit in February, it sparked a frenzy of rumours about who might take over. Demna has landed the plum job.
Why are there always so many big announcements in the fashion world?
The who-works-where discourse in the fashion world is a tale without end. It is an industry in a constant state of flux, with names moving from one house to the next. Big announcements are never far away, but the recent news is seismic, even for an industry that is used to show-stopping statements.
With the luxury sector stalling, companies are looking for creative directors to spark customer interest. Those who fail are quickly replaced. Fashion is big business and the public face of brands are expected to set cash tills ringing.
Recent struggles to convert interest into hard sales are causing concern across the industry, as evidenced by a recent spate of resignations and moves.
Change isn't only happening on the creative side. Behind the scenes there have been other major moves. Frederic Arnault, son of LVMH conglomerate owner Bernard Arnault, has been appointed chief executive of the LVMH company Loro Piana, with outgoing chief executive Damien Bertrand shifting across to Louis Vuitton, another LVMH brand, as deputy chief executive.
Demna to Gucci and Vitale to Versace are the latest in a string of big announcements, following Sarah Burton's arrival at Givenchy and Haider Ackermann's move to Tom Ford. The industry is also awaiting the debut of Louise Trotter at Bottega Veneta and Matthieu Blazy at Chanel later this year.
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
THE CLOWN OF GAZA
Director: Abdulrahman Sabbah
Starring: Alaa Meqdad
Rating: 4/5
Babumoshai Bandookbaaz
Director: Kushan Nandy
Starring: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Bidita Bag, Jatin Goswami
Three stars
Russia's Muslim Heartlands
Dominic Rubin, Oxford
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
MATCH INFO
What: India v Afghanistan, first Test
When: Starts Thursday
Where: M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengalaru
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
Profile of Udrive
Date started: March 2016
Founder: Hasib Khan
Based: Dubai
Employees: 40
Amount raised (to date): $3.25m – $750,000 seed funding in 2017 and a Seed round of $2.5m last year. Raised $1.3m from Eureeca investors in January 2021 as part of a Series A round with a $5m target.
The Pope's itinerary
Sunday, February 3, 2019 - Rome to Abu Dhabi
1pm: departure by plane from Rome / Fiumicino to Abu Dhabi
10pm: arrival at Abu Dhabi Presidential Airport
Monday, February 4
12pm: welcome ceremony at the main entrance of the Presidential Palace
12.20pm: visit Abu Dhabi Crown Prince at Presidential Palace
5pm: private meeting with Muslim Council of Elders at Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque
6.10pm: Inter-religious in the Founder's Memorial
Tuesday, February 5 - Abu Dhabi to Rome
9.15am: private visit to undisclosed cathedral
10.30am: public mass at Zayed Sports City – with a homily by Pope Francis
12.40pm: farewell at Abu Dhabi Presidential Airport
1pm: departure by plane to Rome
5pm: arrival at the Rome / Ciampino International Airport
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, Leon.
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
CHATGPT%20ENTERPRISE%20FEATURES
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
India team for Sri Lanka series
Test squad: Rohit Sharma (captain), Priyank Panchal, Mayank Agarwal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, Shubhman Gill, Rishabh Pant (wk), KS Bharath (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Jayant Yadav, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Sourabh Kumar, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah.
T20 squad: Rohit Sharma (captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer, Surya Kumar Yadav, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan (wk), Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Chahar, Deepak Hooda, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Avesh Khan
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Bullet%20Train
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