The battle of the brands

The hiatus following the royal wedding, before the designer menswear shows begin in June, seems as good a time as any for the high-end fashion industry to start a game of musical chairs.

Alistair Carr, from the design team at Balenciaga, has jumped into the seat recently vacated by Claire Waight Keller at Pringle, who in turn has leapt on to an empty one at Chloé, still warm from the departing creative director, Hannah MacGibbon.

Will LVMH-owned Christian Dior join in and announce who will succeed John Galliano? It would deflect attention from the imminent announcement of the date set for his trial.

Alexander McQueen's Sarah Burton is thought to be a serious contender, not just because of the wedding gown she created for the Duchess of Cambridge, but thanks to the dress (described as "tighter than a coat of paint" by one CNN presenter) worn by the bride's sister, Pippa Middleton. Whoever eventually ascends the throne at Dior will have to bring something - or someone - truly unique to the table. This could be a blue-blooded royal, or the Hollywood equivalent.

Having a ready-made posse of starry friends already wearing her designs helped persuade Gucci group to "realise", as Tom Ford put it, Stella McCartney's dream of having her own label.

Julius Schofield, of London-based Indesign, who has spent three decades placing the right designers with the right design houses, recently explained to me how much the brief for finding an A-list creative designer had changed.

No longer is it a case of stumbling on a uniquely talented designer able to think up 12 collections a year without crumbling under the pressure of overseeing shop openings in emerging markets from China to Uzbekistan, or even masterminding hourly, slick, Twitter feeds.

Today's top designers must have the brain of a veteran advertising guru when it comes to advertising campaigns and know (literally) who to cast in the starring role. Examples of 21st century multi-taskers include Gucci's Frida Giannini, whose award-winning Flora perfume campaign featured Donna Summer singing a new mix of her original 1970s disco anthem I Feel Love. Burberry's cyber-geek designer, Christopher Bailey, is another: his idea to use offsprings of rock royalty accounts as much for double-digit profit growth as the aviator jacket.

According to Style.com, the insider website owned by the fashion magazine publisher Condé Nast, Chanel ranks at number one in the luxury brand sector, its greatest weapon being Karl Lagerfeld, a phenomenal soothsayer when it comes to second-guessing the latest "It girl" fad.

Lagerfeld thinks outside the box - or should that be quilted handbag? He made a case for Chanel surf boards/iPod cases/biker jackets/jeans long before anyone else. No wonder everything he does - and anyone he chooses - is scrutinised.

Until recently, Lagerfeld's muse and arm candy on red carpet outings was the hauntingly beautiful model turned actress, Elisa Sednaoui. He memorably cast the long-legged Sednaoui, who has the looks of a young Nastassja Kinski, as his leading lady in his debut movie, Remember Now.

The daughter of an Italianmodel-agent mother and half-French, half-Egyptian architect father, Sednaoui boasts impeccable fashion credentials.

Having modelled since her early teens and being the god-daughter of Christian Louboutin (her dad designed his home in Luxor), means she doesn't even need Karl to make introductions.

According to US Harper's Bazaar, the autumn/winter 2012 New York shows "belonged" to the 23-year-old who, when not actually on the catwalk, sat front row next to movie stars.

Following critical acclaim for acting roles in Not Before, Not After by the Lithuanian director Sharunas Bartas, and Bus Palladium, then why not?

At a time when models are taking over Hollywood (Liya Kebede in Dersert Flower and Agyness Deyn in Mean To Me), it seems to me that Lagerfeld has missed a trick.

Since her last official Chanel engagement in March, when she DJ'd at the exclusive Chanel Colette party in Paris, Sednaoui has defected to the Giorgio Armani camp.

Lured by a beautiful campaign shot by Nick Knight said to be inspired by the skies of her native Egypt (where she spent her childhood), the spring/summer La Femme Bleue 2011 ad shots have a distinctly Arabian feel, not least because Sednaoui covers her hair with a flowing turban-like veil.

She is now rumoured to be in Cannes for the festival. The big question is: will Elisa wear Armani or Chanel? If she is clever (which by all accounts she is), she can wear both.

This woman is currently so hot she puts brands, even superleague superbrands, in the shade. In fact whoever lands the Dior gig, I suspect Sednaoui is already down to do the campaign. Watch this space.