2023-05-22 04:36:34
Since founding streetwear label RHUDE in 2015, Rhuigi Villaseñor has become one of the most influential names in the fashion streetwear industry. The Manila-born, Los Angeles-raised designer has infused the Swiss label with an American flair and signature high-street aesthetic since taking over as Bally’s creative director last January. But just 14 months later, Rhuigi Villaseñor resigned from his role as creative director at the Swiss label, marking one of the shortest tenures for a designer in fashion history. As soon as this news came out, many people in the fashion industry couldn’t help asking: What happened behind this?
It’s no secret that established fashion houses are hiring younger designers as creative directors to expand their brand presence. But it’s surprising how quickly the Rhuigi and Bally partnership ended. Last year, the first BALLY 2023 spring and summer series show directed by Rhuigi Villaseñor brought a completely different look to this Swiss luxury brand with a history of more than 170 years with a sensual design language.
The entire collection pays tribute to the history of sports and film, incorporating elements of ironic nostalgia, and reveals different aspects of wild, noble and youthful at the same time between bold and uninhibited. And this focus on high street luxury has also continued to his 2023 autumn and winter series with the theme of “Persistence of Time”.
Although Bally did not announce specific sales data, it can indeed be seen from the financial report that the brand’s revenue has increased by 20% compared with 2022. Whether or not those numbers are in any way affected by Rhuigi Villaseñor’s role as creative director, at least in terms of positive numbers, his Bally is indeed heading in the right direction. In addition to financial data, Rhuigi Villaseñor is in charge of Bally, which has also allowed the 172-year-old brand to find more young consumers, and demonstrated another important goal of brand change and revitalization to young consumer groups.
Who is Rhuigi Villaseñor?
Rhuigi Villaseñor was born in Manila. In 2015, he founded the Los Angeles fashion brand RHUDE and served as the CEO and creative director of his personal brand. Born to a seamstress mother and an architect father, his upbringing gave him a strong passion for design, while also displaying a deep understanding of garment construction. As a Filipino-American, his diverse background in East and West, as well as his extravagant high street style, make him regarded as one of the most potential fashion talents today.
Now just a year later, Rhuigi Villaseñor resigned from the post of creative director of Bally. In the open letter, this position transfer is also called a “joint decision” of both parties. One of the designers, what happened behind this? Neither the Rhuigi Villaseñor team nor Bally are accepting any interviews or questions on the matter at this time, leaving us to analyze from the departure announcement and social media dynamics.
What did Bally expect from a creative director?
In just one year of tenure, he decided to break up peacefully. Did Bally have too high expectations for Rhuigi Villaseñor? Spending just one year as creative director at an established fashion house was difficult enough to fully communicate its vision, especially when the young creative’s only previous brand experience was his personal brand.
RHUDE As one of the fastest-rising high street brands in recent years, Rhuigi Villaseñor focuses on the exotic perspective of American culture in his childhood, and is good at drawing inspiration from iconic cultural elements, combined with unique insights into modern fashion, to create a special visual storytelling.
In addition to the unique and luxurious street style, the frequent tops of trend icons such as Jay-Z, LeBron James, Kendrick Lamar and The Weeknd have also made the brand famous all over the world in a short period of time. As a 172-year-old Swiss brand, Bally naturally took a fancy to Rhuigi Villaseñor’s own traffic and influence on young consumers at the beginning of his tenure, and tried to inject the brand with the creative director. fresh blood.
However, the reality is that no matter who it is, it seems impossible to make a 180-degree overhaul of the brand through two regular series in a year. The importance of the post of creative director for Bally itself, whether it has the same effect as other fashion houses is also worthy of continued thinking and exploration by the brand. After all, it is still 2017 that dates back to the previous creative director of the brand, Pablo Coppola.
Comparing with the transfer of some creative director positions in other fashion houses in recent years, such as Alessandro Michele who ended his 8-year tenure at Gucci at the end of last year and Clare Waight Keller who served at Givenchy for more than 3 years, some clues can also be seen. Alessandro Michele has given Gucci a new style and brand direction. Gucci’s revenue has more than tripled from 3.9 billion euros in 2015 to 9.7 billion euros in 2021, both in terms of data and the long-term impact of brand style , it is undeniable that Alessandro Michele’s influence as a creative director on the development of this old fashion house in the new era.
Clare Waight Keller worked at Givenchy for three years, and the brand’s sales reached nearly 600 million euros, but this figure was obviously still not enough, and it did not reach the goal of 1 billion US dollars set by Bernard Arnault. To date, Alessandro Michele and Clare Waight Keller have not held creative directorships at a major fashion house. Perhaps, this also leaves them more time and space to explore more distinctive design styles and how to run in with the brand.
Representative of an atypical “creative director”
Aside from the role of creative director, Rhuigi Villaseñor is also a very typical representative of the new generation of “creative director”. With no formal college education or design training aside from a post-high school internship with Shaun Samson, Rhuigi is a creative who grew up in California’s San Fernando Valley and represents one of the streetwear and fashion industry’s most youthful champions today. class designer. They bring the seemingly unreachable high-end fashion to the streets, and continue to gain influence among the younger generation of trendy fashion lovers, and find themselves and the brand’s status.
Undoubtedly, the succession of fashion houses has its own set of procedures to a large extent, and it is also closely linked to the designer’s personal connections. So whenever someone with a non-traditional fashion background appears, whether it’s Villaseñor, the late Virgil Abloh or Pharrell Williams, the men’s creative director of Louis Vuitton, the industry and its followers hope to see a different breakthrough. Expecting “unexpected” surprises also adds more or less execution pressure to creative directors with non-traditional backgrounds.
A peaceful breakup or different visions?
In a statement released by the two parties, Rhuigi Villaseñor said: “I have been honored by my time at Bally, and I wish the brand the best of luck in all its future endeavors and look forward to embarking on its next creative chapter.” Bally’s Chief Creative Officer Nicolas Girotto also praised Villaseñor for his creative contribution to the brand, saying: “His passion, energy and creativity have helped Bally return to the spotlight, further revitalizing the brand’s 170-year heritage through a modern, captivating lens. I wish He’s well on the next chapter of his creative journey.” Though brief, it’s not hard to see how the breakup, on the outside, is at least amicable. But judging from Rhuigi’s tweets in the past two days, it seems that some real reasons for the “breakup” can be seen better.
Rhuigi posted two consecutive tweets in the past two days: “To those children who want to work in this industry in the future, it is very important to have a correct road map, which will guide you to the correct corporate values. Let you Can always focus on what you have, and build the world you imagine, and never compromise on your values and culture for anything.” and “Have complete control over your own behavior and destiny.” Between the lines said Some different stories: The irreconcilability of creative direction and vision is perhaps one of the biggest reasons why creative directors leave their jobs today.
From Alessandro Michele’s resignation statement, we can also find: “Sometimes the road will part ways because of the different perspectives of each of us.” Clare Waight Keller’s statement indicates the personal direction: “Focusing on haute couture has always been the focus of my career. One of the highlights.”
Who will be Bally’s next candidate?
But the discussion about fashion houses and their creative directors boils down to a question of personal costs and capabilities. Now that the two have parted ways, Villaseñor will continue to focus on RHUDE, but it is not ruled out that he will take over as creative director of other brands in the short term.
For Bally, Bally’s design studio will have creative control over the brand’s future collections until a new creative director is appointed. Bally will present its Spring/Summer 2024 men’s and womenswear collections in Milan this September, and now that the fact is that Villaseñor doesn’t fit Bally’s mold, who would be Bally’s creative director?
A few names that immediately come to mind are Raul Lopez, Martine Rose and Bianca Saunders, three designers who have managed to prove their competence and influence in the contemporary fashion arena. Both are designers who have reinvented classic silhouettes and melded streetwear with haute couture, and all have a strong connection with a younger audience. They can switch back and forth between ready-to-wear and streetwear, and have proven themselves capable in the industry at competitions like the LVMH Prize.
But potential fashion designers aside, it’s worth noting that earlier this year Bally tapped American actor Adrien Brody to design a capsule collection expected to debut later this year. So Bally may also appoint a celebrity with great influence and voice instead of a traditional fashion designer, just like LV chose Pharrell Williams. As far as Bally itself is concerned, finding a suitable creative director to promote its vision while avoiding frequent replacement is the main goal at present. If its creative director is always changing rapidly, then the goal of this traditional brand in line with the current market will gradually drift away.
Do fashion brands need a creative director today?
In addition to the candidate for the next Bally creative director, the discussion about the replacement of the brand creative director is also worthy of further discussion. The acceleration of the rotation of creative directors also makes people wonder how replaceable the creative director is and how much influence does it have on the brand?
Last week, Helmut Lang appointed Peter Do as its new creative director after years of vacancy. While the news of his taking office excited the industry, it also made people wonder whether Peter Do can restore this long-dormant brand to its former glory? When the brand’s own design team has a mature system, and the alternative plan of inviting guest designers and creative teams is tried out in JPG, LV, Dior and other brands, do fashion brands really need a creative director today? And when the candidates for the brand creative director have their own personal influence, do these candidates still hope to “work” with other brands while taking care of their own brands? Perhaps the post of creative director of a fashion house itself is a two-way choice between the two.
So what do you think of Rhuigi Villaseñor’s short-lived partnership with Bally? Regarding the candidate for Bally’s next creative director, who would be the right candidate in your mind? Do fashion brands really need a creative director these days? Let us know in the comments.
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