The very messy game of designer musical chairs that roiled the fashion world at the end of 2024 is continuing into 2025.
On Wednesday, Proenza Schouler, a New York brand that was once considered the future of fashion in the city, announced that its designers, Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez,
No reason was given for the decision, other than that the time simply felt “right” and no statement was made about what the designers would do next. Jack and Lazaro reportedly began thinking about exploring other opportunities after the company’s 20th anniversary in 2022 and their new CEO, Shira Suveyke Snyder, was brought in last October in part to manage the transition.
Still, a designer leaving a house he or she founded when it is relatively stable and they are relatively young (both are 46) is almost unheard-of, unless there has been a falling out with a backer or the designer is planning to take another job.
It is possible the pair are setting a new precedent when it comes to career paths. But they are also widely rumoured to be under consideration as the new designers of Loewe, the Spanish brand owned by LVMH, replacing Jonathan Anderson, who has been said for months to be heading to Dior. (A spokesperson declined to comment on the move.)
Jonathan has not officially left Loewe, nor has Maria Grazia Chiuri, the creative director of Dior womenswear whom he would theoretically replace, left Dior. Also, Kim Jones, the creative director of Dior menswear, recently extended his contract with the brand.
LVMH, which once explored acquiring Proenza Schouler, has neither confirmed nor denied the various anonymous reports suggesting all the above, even as the rumours have spread across social media. Neither Loewe nor Proenza Schouler nor JW Anderson, Jonathan’s namesake brand, are on the coming fashion show schedules in New York, Paris or London.
According to headhunters, luxury groups are now asking designers who take on positions at their fashion houses to stop doing double duty with their own labels. For example, Veronica Leoni, the new designer at Calvin Klein, put her Quira collection on hold when she took the bigger job.
All of which has further fuelled the speculation about who is going where.
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The only certainty is that, despite Proenza Schouler being synonymous with Jack and Lazaro, the designers intend it to continue without them. It is not being closed or suspended and the opening of a second store in New York in February is going ahead. (The February women’s collection will be released digitally; the fate of a planned men’s collection is to be determined.)
What Proenza Schouler, named after the designers’ mothers, will look like without its founders is less clear.
Other than being known for a coolly urban art-gallerist vibe and a hit bag (the PS1), and despite its founders being highly mediagenic, winning five Council of Fashion Designers of America awards and being championed by Anna Wintour, Proenza Schouler never really fulfilled the promise of becoming the Next Great American Brand.
Within the industry, the designers are still known as “the Proenza boys”, which reflects the sense that they have remained designers on the verge. Two collections shown in Paris during the couture shows were tepidly received and the company (majority-owned by Mudrick Capital) has struggled with a revolving cast of investors.
The Proenza job opening now joins those at Fendi, Maison Margiela and Helmut Lang and will further reshape a fashion world in the midst of extraordinary designer change. Eight creative directors are making their debuts this year as fashion houses seek to offer something new in the face of a global slowdown in luxury spending. The dominoes have not finished falling.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
Written by: Vanessa Friedman
©2025 THE NEW YORK TIMES
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