FASHION

MATTHEW WILLIAMSON

Designer, Pucci

If the world of fashion design seems like a revolving door, well, it is. After three years at the helm of Emilio Pucci, Christian Lacroix left his post in September, just days after the spring runway show in Milan.

Lacroix spent several seasons trying to reinvent the Florentine fashion house known for its geometric prints and St. Moritz jet-set lifestyle, after it had languished through the 1980s and ‘90s. Though inventive, his collections weren’t always commercial, and it was the simplest silk scarves and neckties that brought the brand back to life on store shelves.

Pucci parent company LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton wasted no time replacing Lacroix with Matthew Williamson, left. The British designer is a natural choice because of his evocative sense of color, his bohemian joie de vivre and his ties to Jade Jagger, Sienna Miller and other members of today’s glamorous jet set.

And when he shows his first collection for Pucci this February, no doubt he will inject youthful energy into the brand.

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KARL LAGERFELD

Designer, Karl Lagerfeld

It’s difficult to imagine Karl Lagerfeld being any more visible. One of fashion’s great characters (or caricatures), he designs the Chanel and Fendi collections, shoots photos for fashion glossies and owns a publishing house. But it seems he isn’t busy enough. In February, he will debut a line of contemporary men’s and women’s clothing under his own name during New York Fashion Week. He’s taking the final show slot Feb. 10, which now has a high profile thanks to shows by Jennifer Lopez and Gwen Stefani.

Lagerfeld had a trial run last year when he produced a small collection of T-shirts, skinny jackets and coats for cheap chic emporium H&M.; In mere hours, every piece had sold out of the Fifth Avenue flagship (and several were listed on EBay for three times the price).

The forthcoming line is the product of one of the oddest fashion pairings. Tommy Hilfiger is bankrolling the project, after purchasing the trademark to Lagerfeld’s name last December. And if the Karl Lagerfeld Collection is a hit at retail in the fall, it can only help Hilfiger, whose troubled 20-year-old business has been on the block since August.

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RAF SIMONS

Designer, Jil Sander

Jil Sander began designing in the 1970s, but it was in the 1990s that she began to attract a loyal, almost cultish following for her suits. Not shoulder-padded or fluidly tailored like Giorgio Armani’s 1980s styles, they were minimalist, linear and expensive.

But Jil Sander is not with Jil Sander anymore -- though the label retains her name. Since the German fashion house became a subsidiary of Prada Group in 1999, it’s been an on-again, off-again relationship as tumultuous as Jessica and Nick’s. Sander left in 2000, returned in 2003 and now is gone for good. Subsequent designers offered little hope.

But last year Raf Simons, right, was tapped as creative director; he will show his first women’s collection for the Milan fashion house in February.

A Belgian, Simons is a gifted, under-the-radar menswear designer who first gained notice for making slender, small-shouldered suits not unlike Sander’s.

Whether he can resuscitate the business remains to be seen. The better question may be whether he can get along with Prada Group’s headstrong manager, Patrizio Bertelli.