After the so-called great creative reset, is fashion’s revolving door getting ready to spin some more?
On Thursday, shortly after Calvin Klein revealed the departure of designer Veronica Leoni, McQueen said it was parting ways with creative director Seán McGirr after an uneven three-year collaboration, and amid a substantial retrenchment of the business involving layoffs, and a downsizing of the retail network.
Both Kering, parent of the London-based fashion house, and PVH Corp., parent of Calvin Klein, said they would name new creative leadership soon.
They are only the latest designers to be let go. Kering, which welcomed veteran automobile executive Luca de Meo as chief executive officer in September 2025, seems in a mood to shake up the group’s creative ranks. It last week revealed the departure of Anthony Vaccarello from Saint Laurent after an acclaimed and eventful 10-year tenure. His successor has yet to be named.
There is speculation, too, that Balenciaga, where creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli is plying his couture chops and returning the brand to its roots, might also be facing some changes.
As for Thursday’s shifts, David Savman, global brand president of Calvin Klein, said of Leoni: “I want to thank Veronica for her creative vision, commitment and partnership over the past two years. Reintroducing Collection was a significant milestone for Calvin Klein, and Veronica’s exceptional talent and fresh perspective on Calvin’s iconic design codes helped build meaningful momentum for Collection. Collection remains an important part of our brand, we are excited by the progress to date and look forward to its continued evolution.”
De Meo of Kering thanked McGirr for his “contribution and dedication” to the brand, and said he wants to establish “a bold new direction for the house, building on its unique heritage of exceptional tailoring, uncompromising creativity and rebellion to reaffirm its position as one of the most innovative and culturally relevant voices in luxury.”
Gianfranco D’Attis, who was named president and CEO of Alexander McQueen earlier this year, said McGirr approached McQueen “with great respect for its history while expressing his own vision. His talent and passion have helped us reconnect Alexander McQueen with London, its culture, and its extraordinary creative energy.”
McGirr said he was “incredibly proud of the progressive energy we cultivated as a team, anchoring our creativity in contemporary culture, and seeing it resonate with the most forthright, expressive figures across art, music, cinema, and more. I leave with profound gratitude for the dedication of the studio and atelier, and craftspeople. I look forward to my next chapter and wish the house every success.”
The Dublin-born McGirr, who succeeded Sarah Burton, was previously head of menswear at JW Anderson. A graduate of Central Saint Martins, he is also a photographer with a love of London’s inspiring street life.
Before joining JW Anderson, he worked at Dries Van Noten on the womenswear collection. His résumé also includes stints at Burberry and Christophe Lemaire for Uniqlo.
Very early in his career, he worked for Vogue Hommes International Japan and Taiwanese fabric producer Singtex. He has also worked as a writer for the trend-forecasting company Stylus.
McGirr was a great fan of the late designer Lee Alexander McQueen. For the spring 2027 collection, McGirr fulfilled a dream, inviting the jeweler and former McQueen collaborator, Shaun Leane, to create pieces for the runway for the first time in 16 years.
McGirr’s departure comes roughly four months after Kering put D’Attis, previously CEO of Prada, at the management helm of McQueen, trumpeting his “powerful combination of strategic vision, operational rigor and deep luxury expertise.”
De Meo did not mince words about the need to cut deep at McQueen since the brand incurred heavy losses by opening 135 stores worldwide and allowing itself to become excessively reliant on sneaker sales, which at one point represented 80 percent of its revenues.
Meanwhile, Calvin Klein said Thursday the brand and Leoni will part ways at the end of her current contract, confirming speculation that had been circulating in the market. A new Collection creative leadership will be revealed “in due course,” according to the company.
Leoni, who was born in Rome, joined Calvin Klein to great fanfare in May 2024 and her debut collection was shown in February 2025 for fall 2025. Her high-profile appointment followed a multiyear hiatus for Calvin Klein Collection on the runway following the departure of Raf Simons in 2018. It also represented the first time Calvin Klein Collection had a female creative director.
Calvin Klein himself showed up at Leoni’s debut runway presentation in February 2025, seated in the front row alongside Kelly Klein, Kate Moss and Christy Turlington. He had praised the collection, telling WWD, “I loved it. I loved the coats. I started in coats, and I thought they were so dramatic and inventive and architectural. The tailoring was beautiful. The fabrics are quite wonderful. I loved the dresses too. For a start, it was quite extraordinary.”
At the time of her hiring, the company said Leoni was expected to merge her deep industry expertise with the modern aesthetic of Calvin Klein, while partnering with Eva Serrano, then-Calvin Klein global brand president, to bring inspiration from the Collection to the mainline portfolio and the red carpet. Serrano exited her role in May 2025 and was succeeded by Savman.
While Leoni’s debut collection might have been met with mixed reviews overall, her follow-up spring 2026 collection was called a “standout” by WWD. And then for spring 2027, WWD reported the collection “was distinctively more evolved and elevated in fabric and silhouette, centering firmly around the founder’s rich ‘90s sportswear and minimalist archive.” Further, WWD wrote, Leoni found her way back to the brand’s strongest statements through a concise lineup that displayed promise and should be pushed forward with pieces that exude this restraint but perhaps with even more passionate allure.”
Last month, in fact, Calvin Klein came in first place in social engagement during New York Fashion Week, according to ListenFirst, the social analytics firm. The brand headed spring ’27 engagement with a 15.3 million score, up 552 percent versus last February’s show.
Among the celebrities at the spring ’27 show were Rosalia, Teyana Taylor, Sadie Sink, Tate McRae, Pamela Anderson, Katie Holmes, Gemma Chan and Emily Ratajkowski.
Despite the fact that the brand was receiving better reviews and creating more buzz recently, speculation had been swirling for months that Leoni’s contract may not be renewed. None of the stores surveyed by WWD listed Calvin Klein among their favorite collections during the recent New York Fashion Week.
According to Calvin Klein, Leoni played a key role in reestablishing Collection, bringing the brand back to the runway and generating strong visibility and share of voice across four shows. Her creative expression extended beyond the runway into cultural moments that further strengthened the brand’s presence in fashion. The company said Collection remains an important part of Calvin Klein’s long-term strategy, “and the pinnacle expression of the brand.”
In 2021, Leoni launched her own label, Quira, which quickly gained critical acclaim and became a 2023 LVMH Prize finalist. She earlier worked for such brands as Jil Sander, Celine, Moncler and more recently, The Row, where she was womenswear and menswear design director, in addition to Quira.
Discussing Leoni’s departure, Robert Burke, founder and CEO of Robert Burke Associates, said, “I’m not surprised necessarily. I think for Calvin to have a Collection that is desired by the consumer and the retailers, you really need a break-out Collection that’s very distinctive with a very strong of view.” The market is very competitive right now, he said.
“I think she was improving but better isn’t enough,” he said, especially when you have brands such as Khaite and the Row, where Leoni previously worked. “But Calvin is such an iconic brand, and the collection has to be exceptional and not just good,” said Burke.
“Even when Francisco Costa [Calvin Klein’s women’s creative director from 2003-2016] came in, he came with his own point of view, and it always evolved as it was always a statement,” said Burke. “There’s so much nostalgia with Calvin Klein. You want to see someone really strong. The biggest indicator is that the retailers never responded to it. I don’t know any major department store that had the collection,” he said.
Julie Gilhart, founder and president, Gilhart & Co., said, “Having scouted designers throughout my career, I am saddened that someone as talented as Veronica Leoni will no longer be at Calvin Klein. Her last show offered a real glimpse of the wonderful things to come.
“Calvin Klein Collection is such a beautiful name, and I was so proud of the brand appointing a woman as creative director. Talent needs time to evolve; there is no plug-and-play. Time is a creative gift, and in these results-driven days, it is hard to hold on to,” said Gilhart.
Gary Wassner, CEO of Hilldun Corp. and chairman of Interluxe Holdings LLC, said, “They have tried so many times to resuscitate Calvin. It’s a shame it hasn’t worked. The DNA is so distinct. It really shouldn’t be that difficult. They need someone young like a Peter Do.”
In the second quarter ended Aug. 2, PVH Corp. reported that at Calvin Klein, revenues fell 7 percent to $913.3 million, with “an approximately 4 percent decrease attributable to the impact of wholesale shipment timing in the Americas” to the second half, as reported.
Across underwear, jeans, apparel, accessories, home and fragrance, Calvin Klein’s global retail sales were approximately $9 billion in 2025.