Fashion designers are living in strange and unstable times at the moment. Galliano is gone from the house of Dior, with no official replacement confirmed. Posh Spice and the Olsen twins have become respected designers while Karl Lagerfeld recently collaborated with an ice-cream company. It was also not long ago that Christophe Decarnin buckled under pressured and bowed out of Balmain, while Chloe's Hannah MacGibbon finally confirmed the rife rumours by stepping down as creative director of the label. Seemingly its a tough gig to be a designer, more so than ever. The industry is full of financial pressures and opinions. One misplaced seam or unusual collaboration and you could be out as quickly as you were in.
The current cut throat landscape has bought about some snarky criticism. Not so much from journalists and nominated 'fashion critics' but rather from the designers themselves. Perhaps the pressure and fast-paced world is resulting in some 'live-to-regret' banter. Others however just seem to be taking this strange moment in time to air their bitter opinions about fellow designers. Some reek of jealousy while others attempt to hide bruised egos and ill-treatment. In any case, designer rivalries seem to be on the rise, and some are pointing to a more fascinating discourse than the clothes themselves. Here are some of our favourites:
1. The less than modest designer: Azzedine Alaia thinks Karl Lagerfeld is a joke
Azzedine Alaia has just made a triumphant return to couture and shows little sign of slowing down or holding back. Last month while he was prepping those delicious furs and sculptural knits Azzedine set tongues wagging when he expressed his lack of love for Karl Lagerfeld. "I don't like his fashion, his spirit, his attitude," he told British Vogue. "It's too much caricature. Karl Lagerfeld never touched a pair of scissors in his life. That doesn't mean that he's not great, but he's part of another system. He has capacity. One day he does photography, the next he does advertisements for Coca-Cola. I would rather die than see my face in a car advertisement," griped the Tunisian born designer. "We don't do the same work. And I think that he is not doing a favour to young stylists who might think it works that way. They're going to fall before they retire." *Cue hissing cat noises*
2. The jealous type: Giorgio Armani thinks Prada is vulgar
He may be the apple of every Oscar nominated actress' eye, but Giorgio Armani isn't so charming when it comes to his peer Italian designers. Last month the silver haired evening wear designer poked his nose into the finances of Prada and Dolce & Gabbana. Boasting his independence from the stock market and bank debt, Armani told reporters "Prada’s problem is that they have to pay back the money that the banks spent to build up the brand." But the verbal swipes didn't end there. According to Armani, not only does Prada have money 'problems,' but Muccia creates collections that are "sometimes ugly," and is ingenious for her "irony... and bad taste that becomes chic." Judging by the influx of banana printed items snapped on street style blogs, I think there are probably plenty of fashion insiders that would beg to differ with Monsieur Armani.
3. The abused - Tom Ford says Yves Saint Laurent was evil
It's hard to imagine Tom Ford ever getting flustered. Can you picture him ever scratching his head or furrowing his botoxed brow? No me neither. He's such a cool cucumber that it's hard to picture him ever scurrying or being bossed around, but according to the American designer, it has been known to happen and under the guise of one of the world's shyest designers no less. When asked about his time working with Yves Saint Laurent before he passed away in 2008, Tom Ford gave his former boss a less than flattering review. Ford described his time working with
Saint Laurent as a negative experience. "Yves and his partner, Pierre Bergé, were so difficult and so evil and made my life such misery. It was an awful time for me. Pierre and Yves were just evil.”
4. The heartbroken - Hussein Chalayan was hurt by Tom Ford
While Ford found Yves to be evil, he wasn't so kind to Hussein Chalayan when he hastily rejected the British Designer in 2001. Chalayan told British Vogue recently that he found Ford's rejection to be devastating. ”We met up a few times in posh restaurants. They [Ford's company] started a business plan, but then dropped me like a hot potato and started talking to McQueen and Stella [McCartney]. I was devastated.” Despite the rejection his design talented persevered and even gained mainstream pop status when he designed Lady Gaga's outfit and egg transportation at this year's Grammys. Though he's well and truly bounced back from the fall, the hurt Ford caused seems to still be a deep wound for Chalayan. “It really killed me. He told me I was too avant-garde. I thought ‘Tom, you are so wrong’. He looked at it in too obvious a way."
5. The long time rivals - Karl Lagerfeld loathes Yves Saint Laurent
For all the bitchy comments that designers have thrown at each other over the years, no two designers have ever endured a rivalry quite like Karl Lagerfeld and Yves Saint Laurent. The two were pitted up against each other in 1954 when Lagerfeld and Saint Laurent took part in the International Wool Secretariat fashion design competition. Yves took out 1st place at the ripe age of 18 while a 21-year-old Lagerfeld was forced to enjoy the shade of Saint Laurent's shadow. Since that fateful competition the two enjoyed a bitter rivalry marred with growing fame and shared lovers (both men were besotted with
Jacques de Bascher).
Though Saint Laurent celebrated lauded success, he also suffered from severe depression and drug addiction. Not letting his rival's dark ghosts let a good bitch-fest down, Karl remained bitter to the very end, describing Saint Laurent as "the Devil himself with Garbo's face" and " very
middle-of-the-road French––very pied-noir, very provincial." Lagerfeld even avoided Saint Laurent's state funeral in 2008. He may have out lived Saint Laurent, but whether he feels his legacy will truly match Yves' is an interesting proposition. Perhaps his ice-cream and Coke designs are just another way of out doing Saint Laurent. If these unsure times have taught us anything is that when it comes to the fashion world you have to do whatever it takes to beat the competition, even if they are dead.