LOCUS OF CONTROL

In an industry that majorly depends on women for production and revenue, surprisingly few hotseats in luxury fashion are occupied by them

- NIDA NAEEM

At first glance, one would be forgiven for mistaking Gucci's creative director Sabato De Sarno for Matthieu Blazy, who heads Bottega Veneta. This similarity is no coincidence - white men continue to dominate leadership positions within luxury fashion houses in 2023. In the musical chairs that is the appointment of luxury creative directors, the ones who make it to the top reflect a homogenised pool of talent. This is at odds with the fact that women constitute the largest customer base for these brands, and are also the ones primarily employed in the actual making of the garments. At fashion education institutes, women outnumber male students by a huge margin, yet the proportions are reversed the further you go up the career leadership ladder.

Kering recently appointed Irish designer Sean McGirr, who previously headed RTW at JW Anderson, as the latest creative director of Alexander McQueen. As Sarah Burton took her final bow at Alexander McQueen's Spring/ Summer 2024 presentation after helming the label for 13 years, luxury fashion's pool of women creative directors shrunk further.