In fashion at the moment, as seen on catwalks: frills, corsets, big shoulder pads, and “naked dresses.” Out of fashion: employing women as chief designers.
In the most recent Spring-Summer 2026 womenswear Fashion Weeks in Paris and Milan, the effects of a huge reshuffle at the top of the European luxury clothing industry were plain to see.
From Chanel, Dior, Celine, and Balenciaga to Loewe and Jean Paul Gaultier, around 10 leading labels unveiled debut collections from new artistic directors.
In Milan, heavy hitters Gucci, Versace, and Bottega Veneta spotlighted freshly appointed designers too.
On only one occasion, the new face taking the bow and applause at the end was a woman—Britain’s Louise Trotter at Bottega Veneta—while Matthieu Blazy at Chanel and Jonathan Anderson at Dior both replaced high-profile female predecessors.
“It seemed that there was a bit of an opening (for women) just before COVID,” said Karen Van Godtsenhoven, a fashion academic at the University of Ghent in Belgium and guest curator for the 2023 exhibition “Women Dressing Women” at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art.
“But I think Covid played a role in society at large in bringing back more conservative and reactionary ways of thinking. For the fashion industry it has meant going back to the old certainties of the male solo designer,” she added.
Dana Thomas, an American fashion writer and author of “Deluxe: How Luxury Lost its Luster,” puts the retreat down to the fact that the highly concentrated industry is dominated by conservative elderly male owners at LVMH, Kering, and Chanel.
“I think that Chanel missed a really big opportunity in not hiring a woman to run a house that was founded by the most famous woman and influential person in fashion,” she told AFP, referring to Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel.
She lists other labels created by illustrious 20th-century female designers—Lanvin, Nina Ricci, Schiaparelli, and Celine.
“They all have men as creative directors now,” she said.
