Clare Waight Keller leaves Givenchy

In what comes as a shock to many in the fashion industry, GIvenchy's artistic director Clare Waight Keller is leaving the fashion house after a three year stint at the brand. Waight Keller's contributions to the house include elevating their couture collections and designing the now world famous wedding dress Meghan Markle wore to marry Prince Harry. Waight Keller's last collection for the house was the fall/winter 2020 collection which debuted at Paris Fashion Week in March.

Waight Keller's departure underscores a new trend for luxury brands in which artistic directors have shorter tenures. As customers continue to demand newness from brands, hitting the reset button every several years with a new artistic director appears to have become the norm. Givenchy parent company LVMH is expected to announce a new creative director at a later date.

Clare Waight Keller departs Givenchy

In addition to Waight Keller's departure, Givenchy is also facing other hurdles as it has been affected by the coronavirus. The brand's pre-spring collection has been cancelled, and they also won't be producing a fall couture collection. Instead they will be focusing their combined efforts on a joint men's and women's presentation at their showroom in June. They are also extending the amount of time their spring/summer 2020 and fall/winter 2020 collections will be kept in stores.

Although ready-to-wear and couture won the hearts of the press and media under her tenure, Waight Keller failed to make any significant headway in sales for Givenchy's leather goods, which are bread-and-butter for the brand. Prior to her time at Givenchy, Waight Keller was the artistic director of Chloé for six years, where she was praised for her boho chic approach to the brand. She has yet to announce her next move, but it could be a while before any other notable appointments are made at fashion brands as most of the major fashion capitals of the world are on lockdown.

Photo: Lucas Barioulet / AFP