WWD Reports Rochas Will Stop Ready-To-Wear Production
WWD is reporting that Rochas will discontinue its RTW business to focus on the Rochas beauty business.
This is so sad - I loved Rochas and thought it had such an influence on the designer market.
What is the upside?
Every major brand with a less than stellar performance will be reviewing contracts and trying to figure out how to get Olivier.
Where do we think he will end up?
his own label? supported by who?
With Hedi/Dior supposedly in play this could really shake some things up
Chloe?
YSL?
Givenchy?
This is so sad - I loved Rochas and thought it had such an influence on the designer market.
What is the upside?
Every major brand with a less than stellar performance will be reviewing contracts and trying to figure out how to get Olivier.
Where do we think he will end up?
his own label? supported by who?
With Hedi/Dior supposedly in play this could really shake some things up
Chloe?
YSL?
Givenchy?
Comments on "WWD Reports Rochas Will Stop Ready-To-Wear Production"
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post a commentHow sad for Rochas, though, I really loved everything coming from him.
I'd love to see him go to Chloe. But his own label would be great, as long as the management kept their oar OUT.
I think Chloe would make the most sense but it is really not his look but they could change to accommodate him
one thing - management is not always the bad guy, I have worked closely with designers and they are often just as much to blame for problems
Do you know what designer do that really mess things up - poorly merchandising a collection - that is their job and most do not do it well. Management has to come in and try to fix it but they still get the blame
Helmut Lang -great designer, bad merchandiser
there were seasons that i could only buy a few things b/c I already had most of what was available
Sorry I'm ranting now but designers are not the frail little artist they are portrayed as - they have a responsibility to create a workable collection
Look at Dries Van Noten he does both and he is probably the most respected designer i know b/c of it/
Givenchy's floundering, and everyone's itching for it to make a comeback... Words about Riccardo Tischi have not been kind.
I personally think the last Rochas RTW collection was weak. Pretty but weak.
I guess it is not time to provide only beauty but some aditional allure.
i think he should head to gres, they tried a re-invention a few seasons ago with some japanese designer - cant remember the name at this second - but the results were aweful. I think Theskeyns could make a nice fit with the heritage of gres.
Oh, I loved Rochas too! I hope Theyskens can continue the feel of that collection elsewhere.
Chloe! I can really see that happening.
oh, that is so sad. the rochas label is so classic, and it seemed like such a great fit between its heritage and olivier's work.
chloe just doesn't make sense to me... but maybe givenchy? i would not be sad to see riccardo tischi move on.
sorry if this is a stupid qestion, but is stefano pilato leaving ysl??
God, I pray Pilati is not leaving YSL, then I was quite sad when Alber Elbaz left YSL and now I am a total crazy person about what he's doing at Lanvin. I hope Theyskens lands somewhere that makes him (and us) happy.
I think Chloe could be a good place, although they do a very particular look that is both driving trends and selling rather well for them so I can't see them abandoning ship, even if things are a little weaker and derivative after the departure of Phoebe Philo. Givenchy seems like a better fit because of its more dramatic tradition--I always think of Chloe as more casual and floaty and girlish than Olivier Theyskens ever could be or should be!
Rochas is stunning, but it's extremely particular and not terribly wearable and prohibitively expensive, even for those of us who regularly spend thousands of dollars on clothes. They never made any headway that I could observe with the real $$$ generating stuff like bags and shoes.
Sartorialist, could you talk a little more about which designers are good/bad at merchandising for those of us whose only foray into the fashion business is as rabid consumers thereof?
I can't see Theskeyns and Chloe together. Chloe is so feminine by female. Rochas is feminine too but also beautiful on another level, romantic (perhaps not so practical - even old Plum Sykes or was it Marina Rust couldn't walk in those dresses).
However I was doubtful of Phoebe when she first took over from Stella and ended up loving everything she did for Chloe. I was so upset when she left!
The Financial Times reported today that the reason for the closure is that it's corporate parent, Procter & Gamble, does not feel that Rochas fits with their core capabilities.
P&G took control of Rochas when they took over Wella, a German company.
P&G has nothing but praise for Olivier Theyskens, so I do not think they had any problems with him or his work. It seems to be a case of P&G admitting to themselves that Rochas RTW would be wasted under P&G, so it would be better to let everyone seek better opportunities elsewhere.
Olivier will start his own label and when Karl goes he will get Chanel. He is one of the few who can do RTW and HC and in future hindsight Rochas will seem like it was just a dress rehearsal for Chanel.
No, you are right about all you said about merchandising and Chloe having to change to suit. That was why I thought Chloe would be a good move.
The merchandising thing is tough: so many designers are truly artists, and many of their works aren't 'wearable,' as we've all seen. And then you have the added problem of people not viewing art as a commodity, not wanting to pay top dollar/euro/etc. for the quality, vision and beauty that go into real fashion design.
Now I'M ranting! Sorry.
there is no way theskeyns will end at chanel unless he is prepared to wait another 20 years for karl to die cause there is no way he is going anywhere
Givenchy!
I think Gyvenchy would be good for Theyskens but would Theyskens be good for Gyvenchy ?
Olivier is a master at Rochas and brought back refinement and a fifties silhouette back to fashion a season or so before Prada did.
His own look and that dress he did for Madonna were wonderful in a goth sort of way, so maybe he should do his own label.
His acessories at Rochas did not have time enough to develop-his shoes were quite fabulous-we never got a chance to see how good he was at bags.
It's a shame now that to be a sucessful designer you have to be good or better at bags and shoes that clothes, but that's how it is right now.
Chloe' is too casual for him and too sporty.
Pilati is a SMASH at YSL so don'e EVEN go there!
Maybe Givenchy, but Tisci really deserves a chance.
Sophia Kokossalaki is doing Gres and that will be great.
Is there no more room for just beautiful clothes on there own?
He needed more time at Rochas to really develop the entire look, Gucci is a good example of that-it took a while before Frida's look took hold and now it's just great without Tom...
...And as far as Chanel goes- there is only one designer who is a bag genius as well as a fab clothing designer and that is Marc Jacobs- he said a while ago that the one thing that would intrest him in the future would be Chanel and who better to take over the reigns (whenever in the FAR future that may be!) from Kaiser Karl than Mr. Marc?
I love Olivier and I love Rochas, but I do think that the past few seasons have been sounding the same note, just in different octaves. I look forward to Theyskens being freed up to a new label to do something new.
That said, I don't know that I'd want the "something new" to be done at Chloe. I agree with Alice. There has been a woman-designing-for-women sensibility at Chloe for the past two designers. Olivier designs for the ideal woman. Chloe designs for the real one.
I'd love to see Olivier at Chanel or Givenchy; his romantic aesthetic would be an amazing fit, I think. Maybe he could even edge out Ozwald from the menswear section at Givenchy - it'd be very interesting to see what Olivier would do with menswear, assuming he has any interest. Neither Riccardo nor Owzald are very good for Givenchy.
I was completely surprised by this news, only because I had no idea that P&G owned Rochas (until I learned that they owned the rights to the name for fragrances)...subsequently, the largest CPG manufacturer in the world shutting down a delightfully eccentric fashion house is hardly surprising.
Sigh. My vote is for Chloe since the brand is floundering right now and he has the vision to transition the label to the next logical step--not only does the parent company understand the luxury market, but it needs a new visionary to take the brand to its next incarnation...perhaps they will fund his own brand additionally, a la Marc Jacobs...
Hopefully Wintour's blessing will follow him wherever he goes regardless...