Hyères, FRANCE – Dolev Elron won top honours at the 39th International Festival of Fashion, Photography and Accessories in Hyères, in the south of France.

An Israeli fashion designer based in Stockholm, Elson currently works as a menswear junior designer for Swedish brand Acne Studios. His menswear collection presented at Hyères entitled ‘Casual Turbulence” featured wave-inspired shapes with a focus on denim.

On the eve of the ceremony, Elron said winning “would be beyond all my expectations” The designer impressed the fashion jury presided by Courrèges creative director Nicolas di Felice with his extraordinary craftsmanship and clear point of view.

To create his patterns, Elron uses digital software to deconstruct and twist iconic everyday garments like 5-pocket jeans or perfecto jackets while maintaining their functionality.

The Hyères’ festival came as the fashion industry seeks to chart a way forward amid slowing sales in key regions, as well as navigating creative confusion. Major trends like streetwear and luxury logomania have waned, giving way to a more sober, heritage-focused aesthetic at many high-end brands. Others have doubled down on attention-grabbing viral designs.

More than ever, finding the balance between uniqueness and commercial viability is key. Elron managed to do so by updating denim—a timeless favourite. Though he focuses on menswear, he said his clothes “should be for everyone, also for women.”

Igor Dieryck, last year’s Hyères winner has also been working to back up creative concepts with top-end execution and wearable product. He closed out the festival’s runway show with a collection produced using his prize winnings as well as support from Chanel’s Métiers d’Art craftsmanship division.

Dieryck works in the menswear studio at Hermès, and recently launched a capsule knitwear collection with Galeries Lafayettes. Dieryck said it was a “valuable exercise” designing at a lower price point and larger scale for his collaboration with the French department store. “When I design clothes, I hope people will wear them and feel something in them,” Dieryck said. “If an idea is super nice but unwearable, find a way to make it wearable.”

This year’s fashion jury focused on “the make, craftsmanship, clarity and sincerity,” of the designers’ collections, Courrèges’ Di Felice said.

Virality, on the other hand, was viewed with scepticism. “You can definitely feel how social media has changed the face of fashion,” said Di Felice. Attention-grabbing designs can boost brands’ visibility online, but can be “dangerous” for craftsmanship, he said.

Nevertheless, a viral collection that won the jury’s honourable mention was that of Tal Maslavi, an Israeli designer whose layer-cake derby shoes have won him social-media buzz and were an audience favourite. Aligning with his collection’s theme “Sugar Rush,” the models walked his show to the sound of wrapper and chewing noises.

Romain Bichot, a La Cambre graduate who works in the studio at Balenciaga, won the Chanel-sponsored Prix 19M des Métiers d’Arts and the Prix L’Atelier des Matières. Texas-raised Logan Monroe Goff won the Mercedes Benz sustainability prize with his “Asphalt Cowboy” collection.

London-based designer Chiyang Duan won the grand prize for accessories for his collection that included twisted ski masks, glasses and tool cases. Clara Besnard, who deconstructs and reassembles eyeglasses into sculptural forms, won the Hermès accessories prize with a windswept-looking scarf confected from leather belts in collaboration with leatherworkers from the French house.

Executives from Spanish footwear brand Camper, whose creative director Achilles Ion Gabriel presided the accessories jury, issued a special prize to Camille Combremont for a unique, solutions-oriented point-of-view inspired by camping gear.

The photography jury was presided over by Spanish photographer and artist Coco Capitán. Arhant Shrestha from Nepal won the Photography Grand Jury Prize. Basile Pelletier from France won the American Vintage Photography Prize with the UK’s Thomas Duffield receiving special mention.

Disclosure: Simone Stern Carbone’s housing during the festival was provided by Villa Noailles, the architectural landmark and cultural centre that hosts the event.

Not so long ago, reporting quarterly results was a cheerful affair for publicly-traded luxury brands. Despite hefty price hikes, sales were up 10, 20, even 30 percent on post-pandemic exuberance and seemingly endless Chinese demand. So far this year, the earnings calls have been more grim. With a handful of exceptions, big luxury firms have reported flat-to-negative sales, and the outlook has only darkened. Sector bellwether LVMH kicks off third-quarter results on Tuesday, and its performance — along with commentary from chairman Bernard Arnault — will set the tone for the coming weeks.

Chinese Demand

What will inspire Chinese consumers to shop like it’s 2019 again? It’s the most important question facing the industry today. Luxury brands are bracing for steep declines in their China business in the third quarter, with flat to single-digit percentage drops seen as a win in the current environment. The country’s government cut interest rates and launched a fresh round of fiscal stimulus in September. Over the weekend, officials promised to inject more money into the economy, but were short on specifics.

Any rebound in luxury spending hinges on a recovery in the property market, which does not appear imminent. Chinese households have a large portion of their wealth in property, so slumping home prices can directly depress consumption, while the overall gloomy mood can put even renters off shopping.

The Right Price

For years, luxury brands have pushed up prices, mostly without being penalised by consumers. The calculus was that wealthy customers could absorb the hikes, making up for any pull back from entry-level shoppers. This held true for a while, and even in the second quarter of this year, brands at the very top of the market, such as Hermès, reported strong sales. But cracks are emerging.

While most visible in China, high-net-worth individuals are easing back on spending worldwide, amid uncertainty about the direction of the economy, the Federal Reserve’s interest rate policy, geopolitical tensions and other factors, according to an analysis by Bernstein. The bank’s analysts also note that the cycle tends to turn quickly, with slumps in luxury demand lasting on average four to six quarters, followed by a rapid recovery. Some say the worst may be over by this time next year, if not sooner.

The question is whether brands that have been at the front of the price hike wave — including several in the LVMH portfolio — will look for ways to reconnect with aspirational customers, either through new, cheaper products, or discounting. LVMH’s recent deal with F1 is another approach to the problem: it promises a tight, long-term relationship between brands like Louis Vuitton and Tag Heuer, and a fast-growing, increasingly diverse fandom.

Designer Shakeup

The sector’s biggest players aren’t waiting for the market to turn. Weakening demand is almost certainly a key factor in the turnover among creative directors at major luxury brands. Hedi Slimane’s departure from LVMH’s Celine label is a case in point: though he roughly tripled sales, his high salary and production budgets were sticking points in thorny contract negotiations, BoF reported.

Last month, LVMH hired Sarah Burton to re-energise its Givenchy label. On Friday, the group announced Kim Jones is leaving Fendi, but remaining in his role as men’s creative director at Dior. And there may be more moves to come. Who is in these jobs certainly matters. But creative talent can only take brands so far when they’re up against China’s property market and the Federal Reserve.

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