Well, that settles that.
Just when nearly everyone had relegated the burning "Who will design Dior" question to the "Whatever. We'll find out when we find out" file, it was announced today that Belgian designer Raf Simons would immediately assume John Galliano's previous position as Couturier at Christian Dior. His first show will be the Haute Couture collection shown in July. That officially makes Simons artistic director of haute couture, women’s ready-to-wear and accessories collections. Simons will be Dior's sixth Couturier (that's in line behind M. Dior himself, Yves Saint Laurent, Marc Bohan, Gianfranco Ferré and the disgraced Galliano), and its second Belgian designer as, for now, Kris Van Assche will remain as designer for Dior Homme. It's something of an odd situation as Simons was an acclaimed menswear designer for years before trying his hand at Women's fashion at Jil Sander and will presumably continue producing the menswear line he has maintained under his own name. One wonders if at some point he might take over the men's collection for Dior as he designed both lines at Sander. It also sheds some new light on the situation behind Simons' departure from Jil Sander, which may now seem less like a firing in favor of a return of the namesake designer than a convenient opportunity for Mrs. Sander to return to her own label when the position suddenly became available. Is that how it happened? Who knows? Doesn't matter now.
To recap the now basically completed game of musical designers:
Raf Simons is now at Christian Dior.
Hedi Slimane is now at Yves Saint Laurent.
Stefano Pilati is currently unemployed.
Jil Sander is at Jil Sander.
Bill Gaytten is at John Galliano.
John Galliano is still in seclusion.
Kris Van Assche is probably feeling a little nervous at Dior Homme, but there's an opening at Simon Spurr.
That is all.
Dior Selects Raf Simons to Replace John Galliano by Cathy Horyn (NYTimes)
Dior Names Raf Simons Its Next Couturier by Miles Socha (WWD)
Previously:
Dior Wtch: Raf Simons Exits Jil Sander Is Dior His Next Stop? (2.23.2012)






