Belgian designer Pieter Mulier is the new creative director at Versace, Prada, the Italian luxury fashion house and new owner of the brand, has announced. A few days ago, Mulier revealed his departure from fashion house Alaïa.
West-Flemish fashion designer Pieter Mulier becomes new creative director at Versace
Colin Clapson
Published:
‘We are convinced that Pieter Mulier can unlock the full potential of Versace and that he will engage in a fruitful dialogue with the rich heritage of the house,’ Lorenzo Bertelli, executive chairman of Versace and marketing director of the Prada Group, said in a statement.
Mulier is from Ostend (West Flanders), trained as an architect, and rose through the ranks at Flemish fashion designer Raf Simons' own brand from intern to Simons' right-hand man. He also followed Simons throughout his career, changing employers time and time again: in 2006 he moved to Jil Sander, in 2012 to Dior and in 2016 to Calvin Klein.
But in 2020, Mulier chose not to follow Simons to Prada. He moved to fashion house Alaïa instead. A bold move as he succeeded the Tunisian founder Azzedine Alaïa, who had passed away three years earlier.
Mulier did well there: he was praised for his approach and the brand was considered attractive once again. But last week, it was suddenly announced that he would be leaving Alaïa. Even then, there were rumours that he would be rejoining his mentor Raf Simons at Prada, more specifically at the acquired brand Versace. For once, the rumours were true.