Louboutin picks Jaden Smith as head of menswear, prompting backlash – DR
When not following in the footsteps of his famous father into acting and rap music, 27-year-old Smith has been a regular at fashion shows for years, as both a high-profile front-row guest and as a model.
His often eccentric dressing has frequently caught the eye — such as when he turned up to the Grammy Awards this year wearing a black Transylvanian castle on his head, or when he carried his own freshly shorn dreadlocks into the Met Gala in 2017.
“I am convinced by his creativity, but I am also happy to have an intelligent voice from a different generation at my side,” Louboutin, 62, told Le Figaro newspaper on Thursday as he unveiled Smith.
Smith is set to move to Paris and be responsible for four men’s collections per year, including shoes, leather goods, and accessories for a brand renowned for its red-soled stilettos.
While women’s shoes continue to be the bulk of the Louboutin business, menswear accounts for around a quarter of sales, according to the company.
Smith will take the hot seat, despite limited experience in the fashion industry, at a time of fierce competition from corporate juggernauts such as LVMH and a global slump in the sector.
In 2012, he co-founded the niche unisex streetwear brand MSFTSrep, which is specifically designed for fellow Gen Z and Millennial fashionistas, and has been a long-time collaborator with sneaker maker New Balance.
The LA native, whose love of the waste-heavy fashion industry is matched by a passion for environmental causes, has also backed a sustainable bottled water business and a vegan food truck serving the homeless.
“Today he lacks technique, but he’s starting to learn,” Louboutin said of his fashion skills, explaining that his new protégé had already made several visits to Italian factories.
“What you cannot learn is enthusiasm and taste and passion. All that, he has,” the stylist added.
Pressure
Smith, son of power couple Will and Jada Pinkett Smith, was in the spotlight from a young age — acting in The Pursuit of Happyness in 2006 and 2010’s The Karate Kid before turning towards music and fashion.
“I feel a lot of pressure to be able to live up to everything that Christian has done for the house, and also stepping into such a serious role,” he told fashion outlet WWD.
Part of his appeal to Louboutin is his ability to connect with new, younger audiences, which is helped by his 19 million Instagram followers.
He “is going to show the brand’s vision in a much more visible way,” Louboutin told WWD.
The choice has echoes of LVMH-owned Louis Vuitton‘s decision to name fellow Black American entertainer Pharrell Williams as creative director for menswear in 2023.
Reaction in the media and on Instagram was mixed.
“He hasn’t been to design school, doesn’t have any technical experience but he’s the son of Will Smith,” sniffed a headline on the BFM news channel in France.
“This industry is already one of the toughest to break into, and instead of opening doors for real talent, it feels like 90 percent of opportunities go straight to celebrity kids or famous names,” complained one post on Louboutin’s Instagram message announcing the nomination.
“Nepo babies”, shorthand for nepotism babies, is a recent pejorative term referring to someone whose success in the entertainment or fashion business is seen as based on the work of their parents.
It has been regularly attached to Smith, as well as the offspring of Johnny Depp, Lenny Kravitz, or Gwyneth Paltrow, among many others.
Stella McCartney, daughter of Beatles legend Paul McCartney, has confounded critics by establishing herself as a major player in the fashion world at the head of her eponymous brand.
The Business of Fashion publication said it believed retirement-age Louboutin was thinking about the future.
“The billionaire shoemaker is taking a first step toward succession by bringing in a new creative director for the men’s category,” it said.
Rent the Runway announced on Monday sales for the third quarter rose 15.4% to $87.6 million, with the U.S. rental platform clocking growth across its subscriber base.
Rent the Runway
The New York-based firm said ending active subscribers grew 12.4% to 148,916 during the three months, and average active subscribers totalled 147,645, up 12.9% on the prior-year period.
Meanwhile, total subscriber numbers lifted 6.1% to 185,166 during the quarter ending October 31.
In line with strong sales growth, the company reported a net income of $76.5 million, as compared to a loss of $18.9 million in the third quarter last year.
“This year we’ve repositioned ourselves for sustained growth in the category,” said Jennifer Hyman, co-founder and CEO of Rent the Runway.
“Not only did we execute operationally on our stated goals to return to our customer-obsessed origins, reinvigorate our brand, and drive double-digit growth in subscribers; but we also restructured our balance sheet, closing the recapitalization transactions in October that offer improved financial flexibility to better position us for continued growth.”
Earlier this year, Rent the Runway said it will hand over a controlling stake in the company as part of a plan to cut debt and grow.
The deal, with lender Aranda Principal Strategies and other partners, will wipe more than $240 million of debt from Rent the Runway’s balance sheet, according to an emailed statement released in August.
Looking ahead, Rent the Runway said it forecasts revenue of between $323.1 million and $325.1 million for the full-year.
Elisabetta Caldera, 55, has been named global chief people and organization officer for Chanel Ltd., succeeding Claire Isnard, 64, starting next month, the company told Bloomberg News in a statement.
Isnard is retiring after more than 17 years at the group, which had a workforce of around 38,400 employees last year. Caldera will join Chanel’s leadership team, reporting to Chief Executive Officer Leena Nair, and be based in London.
Caldera spent more than four years as global chief human resources officer at Aegon Ltd. where she was also part of the insurer’s executive committee. The Italian executive previously spent 17 years at Vodafone Group Plc in various HR roles until 2021 when she joined Aegon.
Under CEO Nair, the former head of HR at Unilever Plc, Chanel has been rebuilding the roster of top managers at the company as an older guard retires.
Chanel, known for its No. 5 fragrance, is privately owned by the billionaire brothers Alain and Gerard Wertheimer whose fortunes are estimated at about $43 billion each, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
The company, founded in Paris but headquartered in London, reports its financial performance once a year, generally around late May. Revenue fell 4.3% to $18.7 billion in 2024 on a comparative basis with operating profit sliding by almost a third partly due to heavy advertising spending and a rise in hiring.
Columbia Sportswear unveiled on Monday USA Olympic curling team uniforms and fan gear, renewing its role as the official uniform sponsor for the USA Curling National Team for the upcoming 2026 Winter Olympic games.
USA Curling athletes Korey Dropkin and Cory Thiesse wearing Columbia’s USA 2026 Down Puffer and USA 2026 Fleece. – Columbia Sportswear
Under the agreement, Columbia will outfit athletes and coaches across the Men’s, Women’s, Mixed Doubles, and Wheelchair National Teams, and for the first time, provide replica versions for fans to purchase.
“Outfitting the United States Curling Team for the Olympic stage is an incredible honor and our teams have worked closely with USA Curling over the past several years to help propel them to the podium in Italy,” said Joe Boyle, president of Columbia Sportswear.
“The uniforms are a testament to our commitment to these ambassadors – and we’re proud to support these athletes as they compete at the highest level.”
The competition uniforms are designed to reflect both American heritage and the country’s natural landscapes. The dark jerseys feature eight cascading stars in red, white and blue, symbolizing the curling stones used in competition. Each jersey is also adorned with at least 250 stars, a nod to the upcoming 250th anniversary of American independence.
In addition to competition jerseys, pants and hats, Columbia will provide village wear for athletes, including USA-branded parkas. The parkas are insulated with Columbia’s Omni-Heat Infinity technology, and reimagined in a gold star pattern to honor the historic games.
Fans can shop the USA 2026 collection, which includes a patriotic down jacket, fleece styles, short-sleeve T-shirts, beanies and ball caps, priced from $40 to $300. The collection is now available on Columbia’s website and at select Dick’s Sporting Goods locations, with replica jerseys set to launch online in January.
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