Derek Lam . Image by Getty

Is Derek Lam, the American designer who has been creative director of Tod’s for the past six years, about to part ways with the brand? That would be nine months before his contract ends (according to Pambianco news from Italy, it ends in December).

The folks at Tod’s didn’t respond to emails or phone calls last night, and now say no comment, but they are not denying it, which suggests to me it may actually be true. If it is, it has interesting implications for the future of luxury.

Even though Pambianco says this was coming from Mr Lam’s end —interesting in itself, given how quickly the fashion world seems to have assumed it’s Tod’s dumping him — I’m not sure how big a deal this is for Tod’s. Unlike, say, the most recent departure of Stefano Pilati from Yves Saint Laurent, John Galliano at Dior or even Raf Simons at Jil Sander, Mr Lam hasn’t been trotted out as the face or vision behind the brand. Indeed, in January Tod’s launched a new line called No_Code designed in conjunction with magazine editor and Kate Moss-ex Jefferson Hack, and that relationship is more ballyhooed than Mr Lam has been.

Mr Lam’s stamp is hard to quantify. He created a capsule collection of clothes — super-luxurious leather trenches and flared trousers — that were used in the add campaign and sold in a few stores, but they were mainly just accessories for the shoes and bags. He shows up in for the seasonal presentations sometimes, and he has a say in “evolving” the classic pumps/loafers/ankle boots etc. But the “evolution” has been so gradual, compared to the usual fashion brand product switcheroos, it’s difficult to identify his contribution.
As for the reason behind the alleged split — and why it is so believable — here are some possible explanations:

• Mr Lam wants to concentrate on his own line, the reason Michael Kors left LVMH’s Celine many years ago (and look what happened to him!). This is what Pambianco thinks.
• Tod’s took a look at how Dior seems to be doing just fine without a creative director. Tod’s chairman, Diego Della Valle,  on the LVMH board, LVMH being owned by Dior — decided the era of the creative director was over, and this was a good way to save money.
• Tod’s decided it wanted a much more visible, high personality creative director.

The third seems the least likely to me, as Mr Della Valle already has Schiaparelli on his plate, a dormant brand he bought a while ago and for which he needs to find a high profile designer. My guess is the answer is a combination of numbers 1 and 2, which suggests we may be in for a period of less personality-drive brands. What do you think?