The world of talent management has opened up to include fashion designers, and the latest to join the fold is Jonathan Anderson, the creative director of Loewe and founder of his namesake label JW Anderson. This month, hot off designing the clothing for Luca Guadagnino’s film, Anderson signed with United Talent Agency (UTA), the starry Beverly Hills-based firm that also represents actors such as Timothee Chalamet and Cynthia Erivo. Except that, unlike Chalamet and Erivo, Anderson is listed under “Fashion”, a division that launched in February 2023 and also includes former Burberry and Givenchy designer Riccardo Tisci.
(Anderson is often coy about his future plans — there are rumours over whether he will leave Loewe and take up a role at a larger luxury house — but the signing to UTA speaks volumes about the scope of his ambitions and what he hopes to achieve.) UTA, which has tapped veteran agent Anne Nelson to oversee its new fashion department, is not alone in seeing the potential of designers beyond their roles in fashion: Los Angeles-based Creative Artists Agency (CAA) represents Tom Ford and Tommy Hilfiger, as well as Schiaparelli’s creative director Daniel Roseberry. (In September 2023 it sold a majority stake to Artémis, the investment company owned by Kering’s François-Henri Pinault).
Meanwhile, Colm Dillane of KidSuper and Casey Cadwallader of Mugler are both signed to Hollywood talent agency WME, which this March hired creative strategist Erin Kapor.