WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT FASHION’S LATEST APPOINTMENTS: HAIDER ACKERMANN AT TOM FORD, CLARE WAIGHT KELLER AT UNIQLO AND BENEDETTA PETRUZZO AT CHRISTIAN DIOR

During this week of September 2nd, 2024, and as a beginning of what already seems it will be a particularly hectic fashion month, some of the most important brands in the industry have announced their new appointments in key positions for their operations.

Haider Ackermann. Tom Ford's new creative director. Image: courtesy of Tom Ford.

The most buzzworthy so far is Haider Ackermann as creative director of Tom Ford, a role that he will perform simultaneously with the same position at the winter clothing brand Canada Goose.

Haider Ackermann SS14. Image: FFW Brasil.

With a career spanning 30 years and an excellent track record including the creative direction of brands such as Berlutti, collaborations with John Galliano and Jean-Paul Gaultier and the development of his architectural aesthetics at his own brand, Ackermann makes a lot of sense as Tom Ford’s choice for their creative leadership. The French-Colombian designer is known for an impeccable tailoring, a natural understanding and excellent application of color theory in his designs, which are common points between him and Tom Ford since they first broke out in the industry.

Haider Ackermann for Jean-Paul Gaultier, Haute Couture Summer 2023. Image: Getty Images.

This appointment has generated very high expectations, that will be met (or not, only time can tell) with the first collection of the brand under Ackermann’s direction, schedule for release during Paris Fashion Week in March 2025.

Clare Waight Keller.

In a similar way, British designer Clare Waight Keller was promoted to the Creative Director position of Japanese fast fashion giant UNIQLO, after joining the brand in 2023 and releasing the collaboration Uniqlo: C that was met with huge commercial and critical success. This step falls in line with the corporation’s strategy of offering comfy, minimalist and accessible garments to the masses, made from the perspective of luxury-oriented designers such as JW Anderson, Jil Sander, Marni and Christophe Lemaire.

Uniqlo: C AW2024, collaboration between UNIQLO and Clare Waight Keller. Image: courtesy of Por Homme.

Waight Keller, who has previously held the creative director position at Givenchy and Chloé, bring an ultra feminine vision to the trademark brand DNA of UNIQLO: simple, straight to the point and fit for everyone, in any weather and place in the world. Most importantly, the aesthetics that she developed during her tenure at Chloé are a notorious influence in her work at UNIQLO, and it was one of the key reasons behind her appointment as their new creative leader.

Benedetta Petruzzo, new Managing Director of Christian Dior Courture. Image: courtesy of Prada Group.

Lastly, Miu Miu’s CEO, Benedetta Petruzzo, was personally chosen by Delphine Arnault, Christian Dior Couture’s CEO, as the French maison’s new Managing Director. Petruzzo has an stellar CV: summa cum laude graduate of the Masters in Business Administration of the Università Bocconi, with 5 years of experience on a variety of managerial positions at Kering Eyewear and 4 years at Miu Miu, where she went from General Manager to CEO and contributed to their exponential sales growth under her leadership (from 329 million EUR in 2020 to 648 million EUR in 2023, that is excluding a whooping jump of 89% in revenue on the first quarter of 2024).

Dior Femme SS 2017. Image: Getty Images.

Dior has shown in the last few decades that they care about female empowerment through their branding and public image. Maria Grazia Chiuri, the brand’s creative director, put to the forefront, ever since she started this job, her vision of a feminine, sensual yet remarkably strong woman: the quintessential girl boss. The designer has presented collections inspired by We should all be feminists, the now classic book by Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

Rihanna for J'Adore's 2024 campaign. Image: courtesy of Dior Beauty.

Furthermore, since she stepped up as Dior’s CEO in 2023, Delphine Arnault has promoted contemporary women as leaders of the brand. Another successful and culturally relevant businesswoman, Rihanna, has just been selected as the image of the latest J’Adore campaign, one of the best-selling fragrances of Dior Beauty, which also makes her the first ever black woman who represents this legendary product.

Maria Grazia Chiuri during Dior Cruise 2024 show.

Therefore, Benedetta Petruzzo is the right candidate for this role. Besides her undeniable professional skills and achievements, her personal image as a successful woman in the business world fits what Dior wants to stand for and their target customers. Consistency and coherence of corporate image, brand values and the people involved are important across all industries, but especially in fashion, where the public keeps up with what’s going on with their favorite brands and, more and more every day, they want to be able to see themselves reflected and connect with them on a personal level. These are both corporative and public relations moves, and have been, so far, very calculated, well executed and on point.