Ludovic de Saint Sernin, the Belgian designer known for his slinky, gender-fluid wares, will take the reins at Ann Demeulemeester.
The 31-year-old is Ann Demeulemeester's first new creative director since Sébastien Meunier departed in 2020. New Guards Group co-founder Claudio Antonioli acquired the label following Meunier's exit and appointed an unnamed design team to oversee its direction.
Ann Demeulemeester herself, who exited her namesake brand in 2013, returned to the fold last year and remains tangentially involved with the house. The fashion veteran sells pottery and ceramics, an endeavor she launched in 2019, at Ann Demeulemeester's recently reopened flagship store in Antwerp.
"Sensuality, tension, silhouette, fluidity, wildness and a graphic feel are defining pillars of the language Ludovic de Saint Sernin is about to build as he traces the new course of Ann Demeulemeester, injecting his approach to fashion as a tool to shape and free one’s presence and appearance," a statement from the brand reads.
Indeed!
De Saint Sernin got his start as a member of Balmain's design team. After two years at the French maison, he went out on his own to found an eponymous label. Since launching in 2017, Ludovic de Saint Sernin has built a reputation for its androgynous, minimal designs charged with an erotic undercurrent.
"My work is largely influenced by Robert Mapplethorpe’s photography," de Saint Sernin said in an interview from 2017. "Self-expression, the search of identity and sexuality are infinite sources of inspiration."
His first collection for Ann Demeulemeester will debut at Paris Fashion Week Fall/Winter 2023 in March. De Saint Sernin's new role is the latest shakeup to rock luxury fashion, following the shuttering of Raf Simons and Alessandro Michele's departure from Gucci.
