Following the announcement that Raf Simons would depart Dior, the house has announced that its upcoming Spring 2016 Couture and Fall 2016 collections will be designed by its in-house team. Translation: A new Dior designer likely won’t be announced for some time. The brand’s decision to entrust its ateliers with the next two runway collections mirrors the scene following John Galliano’s ousting in 2011, when Galliano’s second-in-command, Bill Gaytten, was tasked with leading the design team for six collections until Simons was named creative director in 2012.
Still, Dior’s choice to take its time hiring a successor to Simons is something of a departure from the current system of designer appointments. When Frida Giannini was pushed out of Gucci last winter, Alessandro Michele had filled her shoes within days. It took Balenciaga two months to name Vetements’s Demna Gvasalia as its new creative director after Alexander Wang. LVMH’s decision to go slow on its creative director search will only fuel fashion’s rumor mill—right now, top contenders according to secondhand sources range from Alber Elbaz toOlivier Rousteing—but it might also ensure that Dior ends up with a creative at the helm ready to dedicate him or herself to the house for a longer period. You’ll just have to stay tuned a little longer to see if that proves true.
