Thanks to a month of rampant rumor-mongering, the final confirmation on Monday that Peter Copping had been named creative director of Oscar de la Renta felt to many in the fashion world — let’s be honest here — like something of the ultimate anticlimax.
When I think about it, however, I wonder if that was an accidental side effect of this industry’s inability to keep its mouth shut or, rather, a strategic solution.
Consider: News of the appointment had started to leak in the middle of New York Fashion Week. By the time the show schedule had rolled on to Milan, it had become accepted as fact, albeit not confirmed, leading to a Paris Fashion Week during which Mr. Copping was still officially the artistic director of Nina Ricci, yet constantly mentioned as “widely understood” to be leaving, or “widely rumored,” and so on.
Both brands during this period said (to me) that they were not the source, yet the idea that Mr. Copping was moving was so uncontested that it seemed clear there had to be multiple Deep Throats chatting away. Even in a world where keeping designer moves under a hat is regarded as almost impossible, I’d never seen such unilateral acceptance of an unconfirmed position.
So why does that matter?
Well, in part because the net effect of letting the news out in a slow but steady stream before the actual announcement meant that, by the time it was unveiled, the entire fashion community had had time to hear it, discuss it, digest it — and move on. It effectively neutered the “Shock! Horror!” element of any change at the top, and there is always some of that when a designer changes jobs.
See, for example, the news that Nicolas Ghesquière was leaving Balenciaga, which was such a well-kept secret that the announcement sent most of the fashion world reeling, and immediately speculating on “Why?” and “Wherefore?”
Or the news of John Galliano’s move to Maison Martin Margiela, which actually was denied by the Margiela owner Renzo Rosso up until the announcement itself. (Those involved in Mr. Copping’s move simply issued the usual “no comment.”)
And while there may be a school of thought that says this kind of newsworthy, conversation-dominating bombshell has value, it also creates a sense of controversy around a brand that can be a disadvantage.
By contrast, telling everyone what they already know and are bored by — well, that’s as uncontroversial as you can get. And when it comes to the life of a brand, especially those like Nina Ricci and Oscar de la Renta, neither of which trades in boundary pushing, that may be a desirable thing.
All of which is to say, those leaks, orchestrated or not, had a use. Bet I’m not the only one who noticed.