There has been some sort of a churning going on in the high fashion world. The story that dominated the Paris Fashion Week was that John Galliano was fired from Dior for his drunken anti-Semitic outburst. The latest news is from Balmain who announced the termination of their relationship with their creative director Cristophe Decarnin. He was the other big story from the fashion week as he had failed to attend his own show during the Paris Fashion Week. There were rumors doing the round that he was mentally unstable and was advised by his doctors to avoid the show because of the stress it would entail.
The other set of opinion in the industry feels that Alain Hivelin, Balmain’s chairman and chief executive officer and Decarnin had completely divergent views about the direction the company should take while going ahead and the strategy they should adopt. The difference of opinion was so wide that maintaining a working relationship had become impossible. In a carefully worded statement from the CEO, Balmain announced the “end of its collaboration†with Decarnin, and is expected to announce a successor within the next week. In fact it did not become clear if Decarnin left on his own or was pushed out.
Decarnin had joined Balmain in 2005 and the company had registered decent sales growth under his creative leadership. The kind of prices they could command also helped the bottom line of the company. There is no doubt, Drecanin’s contribution to the brand has been significant. Balmain is expected to choose a replacement for Decarnin from within its own ranks. Melanie Ward, a stylist in the company had come forward to save the company’s show in Paris in Drecanin’s absence and she is tipped to take his place next week.
