2017 – The year in fashion

LCF News brings you a round up of the most interesting stories that impacted the fashion industry in 2017.

Who’s in and who’s out…

2017 has seen some major shakeups in the fashion industry. The creative force behind Burberry, Christopher Bailey announced his plans to sever ties with the brand after 17 years. He will finish up in March 2018.  As rumours grew Phoebe Philo revealed that she will be leaving Celine after 10 years. Philo’s influence on modern fashion is immeasurable with her cerebral, empowering and feminist approach to design. She lead the move away from ostentatious design and singled handedly revived adidas Stan Smiths!  2017 also saw Riccardo Tisci leave Givenchy, Jenna Lyons depart J Crew, Claire Waight Keller leave Chloe and Bouchra Jarrar leave Lanvin.

Changing of the guard…

Events following Alexandra Shulman’s departure from Vogue after 25 years sparked some of 2017’s hottest debates.  Before Edward Enninful took up post in August feathers were flying. Firstly there was Lucinda Chambers’ explosive interview, Will I get a ticket? with Vestoj which caused numerous ripples and rumoured legal action.  Then Naomi Campbell called out the lack of diversity in the exiting Vogue team after a shot of a solely white editorial team appeared in the print magazine. Shulman’s subsequent interviews and articles for BoF further fanned the flames.  Enninful’s first cover however was lauded as historic and important, cementing his place at the publication.

Step change…

2017 saw some bold but necessary changes in fashion.  Stella McCartney addressed the issue of waste by shooting her AW campaign in a Scottish landfill site and then partnered with Parley for the Oceans to start using ocean plastics in her collections in a bid to reuse waste. Gucci CEO Marco Bizzarri announced that the brand will be joining the Fur Free Alliance and no longer use fur in any collections from 2018. The game changing announcement was made exclusively at LCF’s annual Kering Talk. Hopefully 2018 sees more commitment to improving fashion practises.

Fashion stars…

The fashion world had its moments this year, here are just a few.

• The Met Gala in May was dedicated to Rei Kawakubo & Comme des Garçons and the dress code was avant-garde but unfortunately most attendees eschewed the code for bland, barely there gowns – thank goodness for Rihanna.
• Beyonce revealed her twins in a record breaking Instagram post while wearing a piece from LCF alum  Alejandro Gómez Palomo.
• Donatella Versace resurrected the ‘Supers’ as Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford, Carla Bruni, Helena Christensen and Claudia Schiffer took to the catwalk. Walking alongside new models including Crawford’s daughter Kaia Gerber, the models looked iconic in shimmering gold dresses.
• Rihanna launched her make-up range Fenty Beauty which includes an impress 40 shades – a game changer in the beauty industry. The launch was a hit with fans, press and influencers alike. We’ve said it before but thank goodness for Rihanna.
• The Weinstein disgrace had a knock on effect in the fashion industry with Conde Nast issuing a memo to all staff forbidding any further work with photographer Terry Richardson – about time.

For more industry insight follow @LCFLondon.