Designers are on the move, and their muses are coming with them

Could a morning feel more like a fairy tale than when it begins with a new Chanel commercial featuring A$AP Rocky and Margaret Qualley in a romantic vignette, I wondered a few days ago, tucked under my duvet, watching it on repeat. Then it hit me. Had Matthieu Blazy brought his favorite rapper with him from Bottega Veneta into his new fashion adventure? Just think of all those A$AP street style moments with Bottega bags, rivaled today perhaps only by Jacob Elordi in the same role. Only a few months earlier, I had a similar thought at the long awaited first Dior womenswear ready to wear show under the creative direction of the beloved Jonathan Anderson. Luca Guadagnino was greeting guests, and in the front row sat Daniel Craig, Josh O’Connor and Greta Lee, all friends Anderson had worked with at Loewe until only months before.

Even though the debate about whether a designer should simply transplant their world from one house to another, instead of connecting with heritage and building a new brand identity, is undoubtedly real, I am inexplicably excited by this. First, why must one exclude the other? Bringing the same faces into a new fashion house can absolutely signal a new era. Second, there is a quiet defiance and a demonstration of power in building a personal community that will outlive any fashion transition, because each of these names is, at the end of the day, a brand in its own right, with a highly recognizable aesthetic and vision.

 

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One way or another, we owe designers’ muses gratitude for the creativity that gave rise to some of the most iconic fashion moments in history. Many of these relationships shaped the trajectories of their careers, from the Jean Paul Gaultier creations worn by Madonna that launched the young designer to global fame to the far older friendship between Givenchy and Audrey Hepburn. But back to the present. The stories of A$AP Rocky and Matthieu Blazy, Greta Lee and Jonathan Anderson and many others. Muses no longer belong to fashion houses. They belong to designers.

Below I highlight the most notable muse migrations in recent fashion history.

A$AP Rocky and Matthieu Blazy

The close relationship between Matthieu Blazy and A$AP Rocky was formalized during Blazy’s tenure at Bottega Veneta. Beyond the aforementioned street style moments, Rocky appeared with his children as the face of the campaign Portraits of Fatherhood. Photographs by Carrie Mae Weems captured intimate family moments in Blazy’s pieces, merging high fashion with personal narrative. When Blazy moved to Chanel at the end of 2024, the continuation of their collaboration was not all that surprising, especially not after the brand’s work with Kendrick Lamar. By late November he became the house’s official ambassador, and the brand emphasized that the collaboration begun in the previous phase of Blazy’s career was continuing.

Yet few know that their partnership actually began much earlier. Rocky collaborated with Calvin Klein in 2016 and 2017, during the period when Blazy was a key figure shaping the visual identity of the brand under Raf Simons.

Courtesy of Chanel

Alessandro Michele and Lana Del Rey

The bond between Alessandro Michele and Lana Del Rey formed in the early years of his work at Gucci, when he transformed the house’s visual identity toward a romantic eclecticism rich with symbols and nostalgia. Lana became one of the defining faces of that era. She wore Michele’s creations in campaigns that fused retro aesthetics, magical realism and old Hollywood glamour, and she appeared in an unforgettable Gucci commercial with Jared Leto. Her distinct melancholic aesthetic perfectly mirrored Michele’s world, so it is no surprise that after his departure from Gucci and move to Valentino in 2025 she once again became his central muse.

Photo: Getty Images

Greta Lee and Jonathan Anderson

Jonathan Anderson has been subtly building a relationship with Greta Lee for years. She is one of the most intriguing contemporary actresses, whose style is defined by minimalist yet elevated elegance. Although she was never an official Loewe ambassador, Greta became the face Anderson chose for key moments. She regularly wore his pieces on the red carpet, and the aesthetic dialogue between them became especially recognizable during the promotion of the film Past Lives. When Anderson moved to Dior in 2025, Greta Lee appeared at the Venice Film Festival, at the premiere of A House of Dynamite, in a dramatic dark green Dior gown from his first collection, which at that point had not yet been unveiled to the public. Only a few days later, in September, Dior officially announced Greta Lee as the new brand ambassador, and by October she appeared at Vogue World 2025 in yet another of his stunning creations.

Photo: Gorunway.com

Phoebe Philo and Daria Werbowy

It is very rare for the relationship between a designer and their muse to rest on actual physical resemblance. Phoebe Philo and Daria Werbowy developed a close professional partnership during Philo’s tenure as creative director at Céline, when Daria became the central figure of campaigns and runway shows. Their collaboration reached its peak in the spring summer 2014 campaign photographed by Juergen Teller, where Daria resembled Phoebe so closely that some initially thought the designer herself was in front of the camera. That period remains remembered as one of the most influential and celebrated chapters of Philo’s career, with Daria at the core of her creative expression. When Philo announced the launch of her own brand in 2021, fans immediately began speculating that Werbowy might return as the face of the brand. The rumors were confirmed in the very first Phoebe Philo brand campaign in September 2023. In the end, some friendships born from professional collaborations truly endure.

Courtesy of Phoebe Philo

Anne Hathaway and Pierpaolo Piccioli

Anne Hathaway became one of the most recognizable faces of Valentino in the era of Pierpaolo Piccioli, particularly after the viral moment in the fuchsia look from the Pink PP collection, which marked one of the final major chapters of the house under his leadership. Piccioli saw Anne as the perfect embodiment of his idea of contemporary sophistication, an actress who combines classic elegance with distinctive charisma. When he took over Balenciaga in 2025, in one of the most unexpected fashion moves of the decade, Anne appeared almost immediately in the front row as the face helping to bridge his previous aesthetic language with a new, more refined vision for Balenciaga.

Photo: Getty Images