A creative director is the designer in charge of a fashion house’s entire image: the collections, the shows, the shops, the campaigns and sometimes the colour of the carrier bags. Many famous houses outlive their founders, so the job usually means reinventing somebody else’s name rather than one’s own.
The great example of staying power is Karl Lagerfeld at Chanel. He arrived in 1983, produced the house’s couture collection that same year and is credited with its modern revival, remaining in charge until 2019, some 36 years, while also designing for Fendi from the 1960s onwards. He took the creative part of the title literally: from 1987 he photographed many of Chanel’s advertisements himself. In an industry that now plays musical chairs with its top designers every few seasons, a tenure like that looks less like a job and more like a reign.