Fashion Creative Director

Current Luxury Creative Director Landscape

For an industry driven by women’s interests, aesthetics and labor, creative directors today are majority white males.

Creative Directors are generally promoted from within the luxury industry, hence the consistent shifting of creative directors within heritage brands.

Current creative directors have extensive backgrounds of work for other brands or from building their own fashion labels.

 

According to the Data: 

  • For every 1 female creative director, there are 6 male creative directors.

  • Fashion school graduates are made up of 80% women and 20% men.

  • Luxury consumers consist of 70% women and 30% men.

Source: A Guy Talks via IG

 

Fashion's Creative Directors Today

  • Matthieu Blazy - Artistic Director, Chanel

    • Previously Creative Director at Bottega Veneta

  • Jonathan Anderson - Artistic Director, Dior Women’s + Men’s

    • Previously Creative Director at Loewe, founder of JW Anderson

  • Demna Gvasalia - Artistic Director, Gucci

    • Previously Creative Director at Balenciaga

 

 

Dario Vitale - Creative Director, Versace

  • Previously Designer at Dsquared2 and Bottega Veneta

Michael Rider - Creative Director, Celine

  • Previously Creative Director at Polo Ralph Lauren

Glenn Martens - Creative Director, Maison Margiela

  • Previously Creative Director at Diesel, founder of Y/Project

 

 

  • Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez - Creative Directors, Loewe

    • Previously Co-Founders and Creative Directors of Proenza Schouler

  • Louise Trotter - Creative Director, Bottega Veneta

    • Creative Director and LaCoste and Carven

 

 

  • Meryll Roge - Creative Director, Marni

    • Women’s design lead at Dries Van Noten, designer at Marc Jacobs, founder of own label

  • Simone Bellotti - Creative Director, Jil Sander

    • Previous Gucci and Bally Designer

 

The Road to Fashion Creative Director

Every individual’s path will look different, but here are a few tips that may help you along the way:

 

 

Education & Internships

  • Attend fashion school and study fashion design or a related field.

  • Learn technical fashion skills including sketching, textiles, garment construction or digital design.

  • Become passionate and knowledgeable of fashion history, trend forecasting, and brand strategies.

  • Intern at fashion brands or luxury houses.

 

Early Career

  • Search for entry-level roles such as Assistant Designer, Textile/Print Designer, Pattern Maker, or Technical Designer.

 

Career Progression

  • Advance in your career from Junior Designer to Senior Designer or Design Director roles.

  • Gain expertise in a category such as menswear, womenswear, or accessories.

  • Build capsule projects or small collections with a strong visual aesthetic to generate your portfolio.

  • Become skilled in art direction, storytelling, casting, and show production.

  • Continue evolving your vision and setting goals.