Of The Essence

As fashion speeds up, is time still a luxury that the industry can afford its leading creatives?

- Gordon Ng

Time has always been essential to fashion, but never before has it been as crucial as now. The commodification of fashion has started to put strains on toplevel creatives, even in an industry famous for its breakneck speed and being a trendchurning machine. When consumers are demanding new things all the time, how much leeway does that leave designers with which to pursue a creative vision?

This takes its most apparent toll when there are new designers hired to lead brands’ creative direction. Designers’ contracts have shrunk to an industry standard of three years and the pressure is massive on these individuals to deliver within their first probationary year or risk being let go. It’s almost trial by fire and the commercial demands can seem detrimental to creative merits.

It is an odd strategy, considering the size and scale of some of these fashion businesses. Calvin Klein, for instance, let go of its chief creative officer, Raf Simons, earlier this year; then followed it up by shuttering its runway readyto-wear label due to flagging sales. As part of his initial strategy, the Belgian designer had initiated a rebrand of the runway line, renaming it 205W39NYC after its New York headquarters’ address, and achieved great critical success.