If the luxury industry needed reminding of how fraught creative leadership can be at the world’s biggest fashion houses, Raf Simons’ departure from Christian Dior could not have been better timed.

奢侈品界若需要被提醒，担任全球时尚巨擘创意总监有多么压力山大，那么47岁的比利时设计师拉夫缠馉斯(Raf Simons)选择此时从迪奥(Christian Dior)离职最能说明问题。

The announcement, late on Thursday, that the 47-year-old Belgian designer would not be renewing his contract as creative director of one of the most revered brands at Paris-based LVMH took the fashion world by surprise.

总部位于巴黎的时尚巨擘路威酩轩集团(LVMH)旗下品牌迪奥最近发布公告：拉夫缠馉斯将不再与其续签担任创意总监的合同，这大出时尚界之意料。

His exit illustrates how precariously short creative director contracts have become, as well as how vulnerable a designer’s career can be: it comes just weeks after Alexander Wang left Balenciaga, the brand owned by LVMH’s Paris-based rival Kering, barely three years after joining.

西蒙斯的离职，除了说明设计师地位朝不保夕之外，还表明创意总监合同如今短到多么不牢靠的地步：就在几周前，王大仁(Alexander Wang)刚刚从加盟不到三年的巴黎世家(Balenciaga)离职，巴黎世家是路威酩轩同在巴黎的竞争对手开云集团(Kering)的下属品牌。

That followed Donna Karan’s departure from her eponymous LVMH-owned brand. In December, it was all change at Kering’s flagship Gucci when creative director Frida Giannini was ousted.

这两人都步唐纳愠灓(Donna Karan)之后尘，唐纳愠灓鹑去了路威酩轩旗下自己同名品牌创意总监一职。去年12月，古驰(Gucci)创意总监弗里达贾娜妮(Frida Giannini)遭罢黜，从而引发开云集团旗下这家知名大品牌的大换血。

Appointed in 2012, Mr Simons arrived at Dior amid the chaos of John Galliano’s dismissal after the celebrated designer was filmed embarking on an alcohol-fuelled racist outburst in a Paris bar. Mr Galliano attributed the breakdown to the excessive demands of a role that found him working on up to 16 collections each year.

西蒙斯2012年出任迪奥创意总监，当时正逢其前任创意总监约翰加里亚诺(John Galliano)因在巴黎某酒吧酒后失态大放种族歧视厥词而遭解聘、从而掀起轩然大波之际。加里亚诺把酒后失态归咎于创意总监的超负荷工作强度，重压之下，他每年必须推出的时装系列多达16个。

The reasons for Mr Simons’ departure are still unclear, though he is known to return to his native Belgium often and is also in a new relationship, which LVMH insiders say is occupying his attention.

西蒙斯的辞职原因目前仍不得而知，尽管众所周知，他时常回母国比利时，而且目前正在热恋之中，路威酩轩内部人士说正是这段恋情让他分心。

“It’s been a big shock. Raf’s a very balanced guy and he was doing such a great job. it’s a shame they couldn’t keep a hold of him there,” says one source.

“他的辞职犹如晴天霹雳。西蒙斯的工作有条不紊，业绩也是无与伦比。迪奥挽留不住如此才俊，让人惋惜不已，”某消息灵通人士如是评价道。

In a Dior statement, Mr Simons said the decision was “based entirely and equally on my desire to focus on other interests in my life, including my own brand and the passions that drive me outside my work”.

在迪奥的声明中，西蒙斯说辞职决定“完全基于自己希望能专注于其它人生志趣，其中包括自己的同名品牌以及自己工作之外的其它爱好”。

His eponymous menswear line has won critical praise but the business is small, at least compared with the brand founded by Marc Jacobs, who in 2013 left Louis Vuitton as creative director to concentrate on his own collection.

他的同名男装系列获得业界好评，但销售量很小（至少无法与马克雅可布(Marc Jacobs)创建的同名品牌相提并论），马克雅可布2013年辞去路易威登(Louis Vuitton)创意总监一职，转而专注于自己的同名品牌。

As Luca Solca, luxury analyst at Exane BNP Paribas, says, “when we talk of his own business, there is not much of a business to talk about”. Moreover, Mr Simons’ contract, which expired in May, contained a comprehensive no-compete clause, ruling out any possibility of him joining a rival house.

法国巴黎银行证券部(Exane BNP Paribas)奢侈品行业分析师卢卡∠尔卡(Luca Solca)说：“当我们谈论西蒙斯的销售量时，实际是不值一提”。另外，西蒙斯与迪奥签订的合同已于今年5月到期，其中就包括了全面的竞业限制条款，因此也就排除了他加盟其它奢侈品同行的可能性。

Like his predecessor, however, Mr Simons has spoken of the pressure of designing collections in weekly intervals; a schedule he tried to ameliorate by charging two design teams with responsibility for alternating collections, but still found him creatively rushed.

但与前任一样的是，西蒙斯谈到了设计周期以周计所面临的超常压力；他曾通过让两个设计团队交替负责不同系列的方法、设法改进这种太过密集的时间安排，即便如此，他仍是忙得不可开交。

His tenure was successful, a fact that will not be lost on the fashion house founded at Paris’s 30 Avenue Montaigne in 1946. In the three months to the end of September, revenues at Christian Dior Couture rose 5 per cent in organic terms to 471m. In its last fiscal year to the end of June, revenue was up 18 per cent in organic terms to ㄠ.77bn.

但他担任创意总监这几年成绩喜人，也会永远记刻在1946年创立于巴黎蒙田大道30号(30 Avenue Montaigne)的迪奥的历史功勋簿上。在截至9月底的三个月中，迪奥女装(Christian Dior Couture)营收4.71亿欧元，有机增长率为5%；迪奥上个财会年度（截至6月底）营收17.7亿欧元，有机增长率达18%。

Organic growth at Dior Couture has far outpaced that of LVMH as a whole since Mr Simons’ arrival. But commercial success did not mean creative autonomy: Mr Simons lacked influence on any brand imagery beyond his contractual remit — a sticking point.

自西蒙斯执掌迪奥帅印后，迪奥女装有机增长率远超路威酩轩的整体增速。但业绩大获成功并不意味着获得设计的自主性：除了合约规定内容外，西蒙斯对所有品牌形象无法施加影响——这正是关键症结所在。

Contrast that with the freedom afforded to Hedi Slimane at Saint Laurent. As the label’s creative director, he has absolute creative autonomy over fashion lines, shop design, website and brand campaign images. He has been hailed as the brand’s saviour since Kering appointed him in 2012.

这与圣圠灿(Saint Laurent)创意总监艾迪斯理曼(Hedi Slimane)拥有的自主权完全不可同日而语。作为创意总监，艾迪对时装系列设计、门店与网站设计以及品牌宣传片拥有绝对自主权。2012年被开云任命为创意总监后，他被誉为品牌的大救星。

Similarly with Alessandro Michele, creative director at Gucci, who was appointed in January and has enjoyed free rein to express his “vision” across the brand.

亚历山德罗猠歇尔(Alessandro Michele)同样如此，自今年1月接任古驰创意总监后，他的设计理念在整个品牌公司内部畅通无阻。

Against that backdrop, Dior will probably to have to make concessions regarding creative control if it wants to attract the same calibre of “named” designer.

在当前这种大背景下，迪奥若要吸引同等级别的设计大腕加盟，也许就得对创意自主权有所放权。

One LVMH insider suggests the group is not necessarily in a hurry to appoint a successor and points out that it was almost a year before Mr Simons appeared to calm the storm created by Mr Galliano’s tirade.

路威酩轩某内部人士暗示集团并不急于聘请继任创意总监，并指出西蒙斯似乎花了近一年时间才平息由加里亚诺种族大论引发的轩然大波。

Moreover, Mr Solca argues that finding the right person to bring fresh ideas without destroying a brand’s DNA is one of the hardest challenges facing the luxury industry. “It’s probably more art and psychology than science,” he says.

此外，索尔卡认为找到合适的继任者——在保持品牌原有时尚风格的前提下注入全新理念——一直是奢侈品行业面临的最棘手挑战。“创意总监的艺术风格与心理状态比其专业知识更为重要，”他说道。

Even so, Riccardo Tisci of Givenchy must be an obvious frontrunner. The designer just celebrated his 10th anniversary at the LVMH-owned house with a New York spectacle, though in a Financial Times interview last month said he had no plans to move elsewhere. J圠 Anderson, who was appointed creative head of Loewe in 2014, is another member of the LVMH stable who could be in the running.

虽然如此，路威酩轩旗下另一知名品牌纪梵希(Givenchy)的创意总监里卡尔多舠希(Riccardo Tisci)是显而易见的候选对象。他刚在纽约举办自己的时装展，以此来庆祝自己担任纪梵希创意总监10周年，尽管上月接受英国《金融时报》的访谈时，他说自己只想呆在纽约，无意前往别处。2014年出任罗意威(Loewe)创意总监的J∠圠褠德森(JW Anderson)也是路威酩轩的麾下大将，可能脱颖而出接任迪奥创意总监。

Phoebe Philo is almost certain to be in the mix. The 41-year-old British designer was appointed creative head and board member of LVMH-owned Céline in 2008, where she has transformed the label into one of the most influential and desirable modern luxury houses of recent years.

英国设计师菲比菲罗(Phoebe Philo)几乎肯定也是其中一个候选对象。41岁的她2008年出任路威酩轩旗下Céline创意总监兼董事，她把Céline成功打造成近几年中最具影响力以及最受欢迎的现代奢侈品牌之一。

Were she to get the job, she would be the first woman in the role since the house’s foundation.

如果她接任迪奥创意总监，将成为迪奥有史以来首位女掌门。

Moreover, her most recent show, for SS16, with its nipped waist jackets, fit-and-flare summer coats and modest, shapely silhouettes, suggested a quiet affinity with Christian Dior’s postwar New Look.

此外，她最新推出的2016年春夏时装展上的掐腰夹克、修身大摆夏季外套和曲线优雅的裙装，与迪奥战后一直推行的“新风貌”(New Look)时尚风格可以说异曲同工。

Was that merely coincidence or a perfectly positioned CV? All Dior is saying is: “no comment”.

这一切仅仅只是巧合、还是一份绝佳的履历？迪奥对此的全部回应只是“不予置评”。