Raf Simons Is Leaving DIOR

Raf Simons is leaving his role as artistic director of women’s haute couture, ready-to-wear and accessory collections at DIOR, the French luxury fashion house announced last Thursday. According to Dior, Simons “reached this decision for personal reasons.” The designer’s Spring/Summer 2016 collection, presented in Paris last month, was his last for Dior and marks the end of his three-and-a-half year tenure at the house. Simons’ successor has yet to be identified, but the search for a replacement has begun, according to market sources.

“It is after careful and long consideration that I have decided to leave my position as creative director of Christian Dior’s women’s collection,” Simons said in a one-page statement released by the company. “It is a decision based entirely and equally on my desire to focus on other interests in my life, including my own brand, and the passions that drive me outside my work.”

Those interests include Simons’ eponymous fashion house, which is expected to continue showing its collections in Paris. Simons, 47, made the decision to leave Dior after he and the company failed to reach an agreement on a new employment contract, though the parting was amicable, according to sources.
Simons’ statement continued:  

“Christian Dior is an extraordinary company, and it has been an immense privilege to write a few pages of this magnificent book. I want to thank Mr. Bernard Arnault for the trust he has put in me, giving me the incredible opportunity to work at this beautiful house surrounded by the most amazing team one could ever dream of. I have also had the chance over the last few years to benefit from the leadership of Sidney Toledano. His thoughtful, heartfelt and inspired management will also remain as one of the most important experiences of my professional career.”

Bernard Arnault, chairman and chief executive officer of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior SA, and Sidney Toledano, chief executive officer of Christian Dior Couture, “very warmly thank him for his exceptional contribution to the house,” read the statement. Neither the designer or executives at the brand made comment beyond the one-page statement, released after close of trading on the Paris stock exchange. Simons, who joined Dior in 2012 after a seven-year stint at minimalist fashion label Jil Sander, brought an intellectual, art-infused vision to the house, drawing on his menswear roots to create modernist designs that are said to have resonated with customers. Toledano recently told French newspaper Les Echos that Dior Couture had seen a 60 percent growth in revenues since 2011.

This news is the second shock exit at Dior in recent years, after the designer John Galliano was discharged in 2011, having been filmed making anti-Semitic remarks while inebriated in a Paris bar. The episode brought to the fore concerns about the increasing pressure faced by those in top creative roles at fashion’s luxury megabrands, a concern Simons seemed to share before what was to be his last collection for Dior.

"I’m questioning a lot,” Simons told press before the brand’s show on October 2nd. “I feel a lot of people are questioning. We have a lot of conversation about it: Where is it going? It’s not only the clothes. It’s the clothes, it’s everything, the Internet.”

The departure is sure to kick-start fierce speculation about who will be next in line to take on one of the most prestigious creative roles in the fashion industry. As for Simons, his next move remains unknown, though the designer may be restrained by a non-compete clause, typical in this kind of role, that would temporarily prevent him from working for rival companies.

'Victoriana-Nightdresses by DIOR Spring/Summer 2016 RTW'

Enjoy the entire collections & fashion shows-coverage of Raf Simons for Dior!  

LoL, Andrea 


'Victoriana-Nightdresses by DIOR Spring/Summer 2016 RTW'

• 'Paris Haute Couture | DIOR Fall 2015 Couture'

• 'DIOR Fall/Winter 2015/16 RTW'

• 'Paris Haute Couture | DIOR Spring 2015 Couture' 

• 'DIOR Cruise 2016 Palais Bulles'

• 'DIOR Spring/Summer 2015 RTW'

• 'DIOR Cruise 2015 Presentation in New York'

•  'Paris Haute Couture | DIOR Fall 2014 Couture'

• 'The new 'New Look' by DIOR Fall/Winter 2014/15 RTW'

• 'The Cool New Look by DIOR Pre-Fall 2014'

• '3-D Floral Sequins by DIOR Spring 2014 Couture'

• 'Behind The Scenes | DIOR Spring/Summer 2014 RTW'

• 'DIOR Spring/Summer 2014 RTW'

• 'Stylish Freedom: DIOR F/W 2013/14 Haute Couture Accessories'

• 'DIOR Fall 2013/14 Couture Scenography'

• 'Haute Couture | DIOR Fall 2014 Couture'

• 'DIOR Cruise 2014 Presentation in Monaco'

• 'The Magritte Moment by DIOR Fall/Winter 2013/14 RTW'

• 'Bejeweled Beauties by DIOR Spring 2013 Couture'

• 'An Ode To The Garden | DIOR Spring 2013 Couture'

• 'Haute Couture | DIOR Spring 2013 Couture'

• 'Super-elegant Asymmetric Drapery by DIOR Pre-Fall 2013'

• 'DIOR Pre-Fall 2013'

• 'Ready-to-wear, Act I by Raf Simons for DIOR'

• 'DIOR Spring/Summer 2013 RTW by Raf Simons'

Raf Simons' 1st Haute Couture presentation for Fall/Winter 2012:

'Art Loves Fashion | DIOR Fall/Winter 2012 Haute Couture by Raf Simons

Selections by ANDREA JANKE Finest Accessories 

Source: The House of DIOR

More To Love ...

'Paris Haute Couture | DIOR Fall 2015 Couture'

Simons, however, is a designer who likes to layer and layer his reference points in ways that are wholly of our time; watching them unfold as you sit through one of his shows is like scrolling through Instagram; past and future, high culture and pop culture, the avant-garde and the street, all flowing together to bring you to only one placethe present. For him, then, couture of today can be created from the artful manipulation of whatever inspires him, regardless of time or place or cultural standing.

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