Apparently it was an open secret, but it was not until March 19 that the end of an era was made official. Dries van Noten has announced his retirement after almost four decades in fashion and at the head of his eponymous brand. The search for a successor for the Belgian designer, which apparently began quietly a few months ago, will be announced “in due time”, as the firm has shared through an exclusive statement with WWD magazine.
“I’ve been preparing for this moment for a while and I feel like it’s time to make room for a new generation of talent to bring their vision to the brand,” Van Noten stated. According to the firm, her latest collection will be presented next June, within the framework of Paris Men’s Fashion Week.
However, the creator has made it clear that it will not be an absolute withdrawal and that he will remain involved in his firm – which sold most of the stake to the Spanish group Puig in 2018 and, apparently, promised to stay for a minimum of five more years – as president of the council.
Dries van Noten’s next women’s collection “will be made by my studio team with whom I have been working very closely for all these years, and I have every confidence that they will do a great job,” he said. “However, I will continue to be involved in the house that I treasure so much.”
For his part, the president and CEO of Puig has stated that the group “respects Dries’ desire to step aside, after an exceptional 38-year career in fashion.” And he added: “It is a great honor for Puig to now be entrusted with the task of carrying her legacy into the future, and a unique responsibility that we will cherish as a new and exciting chapter opens for Dries as well as for the bruise.
Dries van Noten is a much loved and respected figure in the fashion industry and throughout his long career he has won numerous awards – such as the CFDA International Designer of the Year in 2008 – and distinctions – the MoMu in Antwerp dedicated him a retrospective and at Les Arts Décoratifs in Paris in 2014, how pop culture, objects and paintings shaped Van Noten’s aesthetics was investigated.
