The Ugly Effect of Fashion Rumors

Finally, after months of rumors, it’s official: On Monday, LVMH announced that Jonathan Anderson, the designer who transformed Loewe from a minor Spanish leathergoods house into a cultural lodestar and is one of the buzziest names in the LVMH stable, a favorite of Daniel Craig, Greta Lee and Josh O’Connor, was leaving the brand.

“What he has contributed to Loewe goes beyond creativity,” Sidney Toledano, the chief executive of the LVMH Fashion group, said of Mr. Anderson in the news release. “He has built a rich and eclectic world with strong foundations in craft which will enable the House to thrive long after his departure.”

Where Mr. Anderson goes next, and who takes his place, was not revealed. Cliffhanger!

Not really.

Planned designer moves have been leaking like a sieve since last fall. Things could always change, but it is widely accepted that Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez, the American founders of Proenza Schouler who stepped down from their label in January, will be taking Mr. Anderson’s place at Loewe. Mr. Anderson is expected to move to Dior, where he will most likely take the reins of both women’s and men’s wear, the first designer to unite the two halves of the house in decades.

The mystery is not so much what happens next. The mystery is why it is taking so long, and unfurling so publicly. Even in a DOGE world where firings seem like everyday news, even in a world where designer change has begun to seem like the norm, this has been a painfully drawn-out procedure.

It’s easy to forget, in the fun of playing the fashion equivalent of fantasy football, that the designers involved are human beings rather than chess pieces, with teams of more human beings for whom they are responsible. As a result, Dior has a women’s wear designer, Maria Grazia Chiuri, who has been walking around for months with what seems to be a phantom guillotine hanging over her head.