A Guide to the New Guard of Creative Directors at Your Fave Designer Labels

Alexa, play “Girl, so confusing” by Charli XCX. If you follow the world of high fashion and creative directors, you’ve probably noticed a slew of changes at the industry’s biggest brands lately. In the past year, over a dozen major labels have announced the appointment of new creative directors, including Gucci, Chanel, and most recently, Marni. Whether you’re a casual fashion fan or scroll Vogue Runway religiously, it can feel impossible to keep up with who’s at the helm at which house (and whether or not you should even be paying attention).

But what do these musical chairs mean for the state of fashion, if anything at all?

As social media shrinks our attention spans and algorithms influence our taste, brands have embraced change as a means to stay relevant. In 2023, a blog post from fashion retailer SSENSE proposed that the rise in changing creative directors is driven by two factors: “The first is the pressure to constantly reinvent a brand; the second is to make money,” wrote author Ana Andjelic. Consider Louis Vuitton’s appointment of Pharrell Williams as Men’s Artistic Director, a buzzy move that dominated headlines and built anticipation for his first collection.

Though celebrity appointments at high-fashion brands are few and far between, true fashion geeks get a similar thrill when their favorite creative directors bring their talents from one atelier to another, an opportunity to leave their mark on a label’s usual offerings. In the era of TikTok microtrends, that thrill drives true brand loyalty for the likes of Chanel and Dior. When a new creative director is appointed, luxury fashion consumers aren’t the only ones impacted; that person has the power to create or eliminate jobs, shape global perception of what it means to be "fashionable," and dictate the trends that trickle down to more affordable retailers.

Below, we’ve rounded up five creative directors who recently moved from one fashion house to another. Keep reading to learn what makes each of them worth watching.

Meryll Rogge: Marni (Formerly Dries Van Noten)

Belgian designer Meryll Rogge was named creative director of Marni on July 15, 2025. She began her career on the design team for Marc Jacobs, before becoming Head of Womenswear at Dries Van Noten. In 2019, she founded her eponymous brand, which you’ve seen on stars like Dua Lipa. Rogge’s impeccable tailoring and off-kilter silhouettes won her the 2025 ANDAM Prize, a prestigious award that uplifts rising designers around the world. In her new role at Marni, she succeeds Francesco Risso, who served as creative director for nearly 10 years. The release date for Rogge’s first collection has yet to be announced.

Demna Gvasalia: Gucci (Formerly Balenciaga)

Demna Gvasalia’s name is practically synonymous with digital-age fashion. Prior to his appointment as creative director of Gucci in March 2025, the Georgian designer held the same title at Balenciaga, where his cheeky spin on classic eveningwear made him a favorite of Kim Kardashian and Nicole Kidman, despite the controversial ad campaigns released under his leadership in 2022. You might also recognize Gvasalia as the former creative director of Vetements, the streetwear-inspired label he cofounded with his brother, Guram, in 2014. His first collection for Gucci will take the runway at Milan Fashion Week this September.