Finally! In the coming summer couture season the little world of high fashion will be shaken by the long-awaited sensation. French House, whose name since its foundation in the middle of last century became synonymous with haute couture, has announced the appointment of a new creative director.
The selection of forty-four year old Belgian Raf Simons, who was creating women’s collections for the German brand Jil Sander since 2005, was not unexpected. The last season’s rumors about who will replace the “enfant terrible” of the fashion world John Galliano already placed him in the short-list of the candidates for this honorable but too important post.
As the designer of Jil Sander, Simons was described by fashion critics as “possibly the last one able to dress a modern alpha-female careerist”. Thus in the classic Dior house, permeated by bourgeois values, perhaps the wind of change will blow. Being a student of one of the famous “Antwerp Six”, an eccentric Walter Van Beirendonck, and a classmate of a no less impressive Martin Margiela, whose fashion house is surrounded by a halo of mystery and secrecy, the Belgian Raf Simons is distinguished by architectural practicality and a unique ability to adapt male silhouettes to women’s clothing.
However working for an existing fashion house, every designer has to somehow take into account the peculiarities of the DNA of the employer. At least it was true until now. Will the fashion rules change, will the once revolutionary “new look” finally disappear in the annals of the history, will Raf Simons come up with something new? All that we will learn this summer. And we are waiting, holding our breath.
Photo credits: Willy Vanderperre