2008: The Year Of The Designer

The upside of all the deals done in 2007 is that there's a lot of change coming to the catwalks next year. These are the ones I'll be watching most closely:

Bill Blass. Now owned by NexCen. Peter Som was named creative director for the women's collection and Michael Bastain of men's. Two of the best hires this year.

Halston. Now owned in part by Harvey Weinstein and a Canadian private-equity firm Hilco. Former Versace designer Marco Zanini is in charge, with stylist Rachel Zoe and Jimmy Choo boss Tamara Mellon giving input as members of the board. Expect heavy reference to the Halston archives.

Valentino. Now owned by private equity group Premira. Alessandra Facchinetti, part of the Tom Ford team at Gucci and briefly his successor, is in the awkward situation of presenting her first big ready-to-wear show just a month after Valentino himself presents his last haute couture collection.

Ungaro. Owned by Asim Abdullah since 2005, the 23-year-old Esteban Cortazar has just been named the latest designer.

Loewe. No new owner, but as one of the weaker brands in the LVMH stable, the house has seen a lot of designers in recent years. Now it is the turn of one of London's favorite designers, Stuart Veviers, to try his hand at breathing life back into the Spanish brand. He will move from Mulberry to Loewe in February, too late for the next round of shows but it still makes this brand one to watch.

Gap. Phoebe Philo has been doing wonders with the Gap collection in Europe. Now it is time to see if Patrick Robinson can pick up some of that heat for the U.S. collection.

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