Matthew Williams lascia Givenchy

Matthew Williams is no longer the creative director of Givenchy. According to WWD, it wasn't so much a dismissal as a non-renewal of the designer's contract. Williams had been refining his language at the helm of the maison in recent collections, but perhaps had not fully convinced the LVMH management, as some rumors in past years suggested. After the presentation of the Pre-Fall 2024 collections for the brand, Williams will be outside the brand starting from January 1st. The farewell to Givenchy comes after the announcement that the brand founded by Williams, 1017 Alyx 9SM, received a significant investment from Hong Kong magnate Adrian Cheng with the aim of expanding and branching out the business.

There is a strong likelihood that the American designer will now focus on restoring the luster to the brand he founded, which has slipped over time into the background, despite a hit collaboration with Audemars Piguet this year. He went from closing Paris Fashion Week with Bella Hadid (a position of absolute prominence) to becoming a supporting player in the Milanese calendar, as it was in the days of his interesting origins. The good news, at least, is that Williams can now focus on restoring the appeal of 1017 Alyx 9SM, returning it to its former glory when the designer signed numerous collaborations each year and was at the center of the zeitgeist with his dark and functional aesthetic.