Everyone Wants the Title

“Creative Director” is one of fashion’s most coveted titles. It sounds glamorous, definitive, almost monarchal. But with every new appointment, the same question resurfaces: what does a Creative Director actually do?

The recent naming of Jaden Smith as Men’s Creative Director of Christian Louboutin reopened this conversation. Twitter called it nepotism. Instagram asked: what does he know about designing shoes? Fashion students saw another door closed. But the truth is, fashion houses rarely make these appointments on fairness. They make them on strategy.

This article is not a defense of Louboutin’s decision, or of any other appointment that sparks debate. Instead, it’s an attempt to make sense of the landscape as it stands, to strip the role of its myths and measure it against the realities of today’s fashion industry. Because whether we like it or not, these are the conditions shaping the job now.

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The Louboutin Question

According to WWD, Jaden will oversee design direction, social media, and overall image-making. Christian himself will still lead design for menswear, but with women’s business booming (double-digit growth) and men’s slowing (single-digit decline), the brand wanted fresh energy and visibility. Realisically, Jaden brings exactly that.

The outrage often assumes a Creative Director must be sketching, draping, and prototyping. But that isn’t the full picture. A Creative Director’s real power is orchestration: vision, leadership, and cultural direction. They are more conductor than craftsman, ensuring an orchestra of skilled designers, marketers, and image-makers perform in harmony.

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Designers, Non-Designers, and Visionaries

Yes, some creative directors still design. Daniel Roseberry at Schiaparelli is a pen-to-paper craftsman, appointed to cement the house as the couture name of the moment. For a brand that trades in prestige and artistry, technical virtuosity is essential.

But others ascend without traditional design credentials. Virgil Abloh wasn’t trained as a couturier; he studied engineering and architecture before transforming Louis Vuitton’s menswear with cultural vision. Hedi Slimane studied art history and came in as a fashion photographer. What united them was not technical training but a clear, infectious vision.

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Business Goals Dictate Appointments

Look across the industry and the pattern emerges:

• Chanel fragmented its leadership, naming Mathieu Blazy “Artistic Director of Fashion Activities,” reflecting the brand’s sheer scale and complexity.
• Louis Vuitton crowned Pharrell, not for technical chops, but because clout is the business model when you’re the biggest luxury brand on the planet. His appointment guaranteed global attention; Beyoncé at his show was proof of concept.
• Schiaparelli leaned into Roseberry’s technical brilliance because their goal is not volume but prestige.

Every appointment reflects a business calculus. Technical skill, cultural cachet, or both—different houses prize different currencies.

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Nepotism, Clout, and Capital

Of course, nepotism exists in fashion. The industry is riddled with privilege. But Jaden’s appointment is less about unfair advantage and more about the kinds of capital fashion houses now reward. Cultural capital, visibility, and access often matter as much as technical design ability.

In a world where followers and influence drive sales as much as fabric and fit, clout isn’t a side effect—it’s a prerequisite. As Glenn Martens told Business of Fashion: “In 2025, a creative director has to be a socialite, has to be the king of social media… there’s so much more to do outside the runway.”

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Preparing for the World That Exists

Instead of framing Jaden Smith’s appointment as a slap in the face to fashion students, maybe the harder question is: are we preparing students for the real job?

The next generation of creative directors will need more than mood boards and sketchbooks. They’ll need brand-building, cultural fluency, social media savvy, and business strategy. Fashion schools may still produce brilliant designers—but if they want to produce Creative Directors, they’ll need to teach leadership, not just craft.

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Closing Thought

So, what is a Creative Director? They are not always the hand that sketches the shoe or stitches the dress. They are the one who shapes the narrative, sets the vision, orchestrates the team, and aligns creativity with commerce.

If that sounds messy, that’s because it is. But in an industry where prestige, visibility, and business goals are in constant flux, the Creative Director isn’t just a designer anymore—they are the conductor, the strategist, and, increasingly, the cultural diplomat.