For Alberto Caliri — a Missoni veteran who was appointed creative director in October 2024 — it’s always a balance of continuity and innovation. “There are distinctive and unique aesthetic codes that represent the core of Missoni’s identity and the foundation of our business — expressed through eveningwear and beachwear — where the objective is to consolidate what works, reassuring the customer while remaining constantly capable of surprising and evoking new emotions,” he says. His new creative vision involves enhancing the daywear offering, which is a new area for growth. “In the main collections, we focus on ensuring commercial continuity and addressing the specific needs of each market, while in the runway show we allow greater creative freedom and experimentation — always in a Missoni key, without drifting into sensationalism.” This approach has led sales to grow at a double-digit rate since FW25 (Caliri’s debut), despite market challenges, he says.
One of the biggest mistakes brands make is cutting hero products without a plan in place, says Crook. She cites the example of Hedi Slimane discontinuing the popular Tribute sandal when he joined Saint Laurent. “The business was insane, so it was like, ‘We needed to bring it back because we don’t have a substitute.’ That’s the important thing: when you’re transitioning, you need time to update the core product. You can’t just eliminate it — you can evolve it in line with the creative vision, but it still needs to deliver the same function.” In a similar vein, Crook says it’s a mistake to let creative freedom run too wild at the expense of the pricing architecture. “If customers come to a particular brand to buy a certain category at a certain price range, and the prices have gone up by 40%, they’re not going to understand it.”
The Saint Laurent Tribute sandals first appeared on the runway in 2004, under the creative direction of Stefano Pilati. They were introduced as part of a collection and quickly gained iconic status.Photo: Marcio Madeira
Ultimately, it’s important to recognize that merchandising is only one piece of the puzzle: storytelling, pricing, marketing, customer service and many other factors are at play. For this reason, Hsu’s advice to merchandising teams in the midst of a creative transition is to understand what’s selling, making sure that the product and the price point line up.
The power dynamics at play
A creative director’s early seasons are about establishing identity and impact, and overly conservative merchandising can dilute that message before it has a chance to land. Conversely, strong merchandising leadership can bring discipline and coherence, but when taken too far, it risks homogenization. Most experts agree that in a creative luxury fashion brand, merchandising should not dominate. One merchandiser at a luxury fashion house with a new creative director noted that when leadership appoints a creative director, it often signals a broader desire for change across the business. Merchandisers who want to succeed in that environment need to be agile, rather than anchored solely in past performance.