Now the attention shifts to who will take over at Louis Vuitton, which is the cash cow of the multibillion-dollar luxury group.

An early favorite is Nicolas Ghesquière, formerly the designer for Balenciaga, owned by Kering. But Delphine Arnault, Mr. Arnault’s daughter and an executive vice president at Louis Vuitton, made a gesture at the Vuitton show to indicate that her lips were sealed.

Later, Mr. Arnault said that he expected an announcement about a new designer by the end of October, and that he would have no problem if the new designer also had a personal fashion line. “Why not?” he said.

Last week, Reuters reported that Mr. Jacobs’s contract had not been resolved, though negotiations had begun in January, and noted the significance of that fact for a label that accounts for annual sales of nearly ¤7 billion, or $9.5 billion, and more than half of LVMH’s operating profit. Louis Vuitton’s growth, after years of annual gains of 10 percent or more, has slowed to 5 percent to 6 percent this year, while LVMH has not kept track with the broader European luxury sector, the Reuters report noted.

Also last week, Vuitton announced that it had hired Darren Spaziani, most recently the director of accessories at Proenza Schouler in New York, to develop a higher-end collection of accessories. Mr. Spaziani previously worked with Mr. Jacobs at Louis Vuitton and Mr. Ghesquière at Balenciaga, prompting further speculation that a bigger change in creative direction was in the works.

Editors and retailers reacted positively to the news after the show.

“Marc is absolutely significant to fashion,” said Ken Downing, the fashion director of Neiman Marcus. “But as we have seen at many other houses, designers have taken a hiatus or been replaced by other talents. It has been a Marc moment for many years here, but fashion is an industry of change. It is never the same day any day.”