The truncated announcement for Mr. Anderson comes as LVMH broadly is feeling the pressure. This week it reported a 3 percent year-over-year sales dip, caused by slipping sales in Asia and the United States (though, the declines are heftiest in its liquor businesses) sending its stock down around 8 percent. Dior in particular was said by Cécile Cabanis, the LVMH chief financial officer, to have performed “below the average.”
At the shareholder meeting, Mr. Arnault announced Mr. Anderson’s appointment in response to a question from an investor, and it may have been an attempt to quell investor fears that the brand wasn’t doing enough to right the ship. Still, it adds to the impression that LVMH, the world’s largest luxury company, is handling news about its loftiest jobs in a reactive, piecemeal manner, in which the rumor mill is often well ahead of official announcements.
What’s certain is that Mr. Anderson, 40, had been floating around as somewhat of a free agent in the fashion world since he stepped down as creative director at Loewe, owned by LVMH, last month. The Irish-born designer spent 11 years at the Spanish company, transforming it from a snoozy leather goods brand into a destination for whimsical, haute creations. Still, its market share remained well below that of Dior, or Louis Vuitton, the princely jewels of the LVMH empire.
His departure from the brand, without his next job nor his successor announced, sent the fashion world spinning that Mr. Anderson was heading to loftier heights. Last month, LVMH confirmed that Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez, formerly of the New York label Proenza Schouler, would be taking the helm at Loewe.
At Loewe, Mr. Anderson showed he could check all the boxes for a modern, creative director. His runway shows had become fantastical, near-Seussian displays — trousers pleated like a curtain in a Broadway theater, feathered headpieces and clothes made of clay. They mesmerized, and occasionally polarized, audiences. At the same time, he displayed a crackerjack commercial sense — particularly on the men’s side of Loewe’s stores, which were heavy on everyday leather jackets, pebbled leather loafers and well-cut sweaters.
