Just when we thought fashion’s musical chairs had died down for a bit, another new appointment reminds us that the game is far from over. This time it’s the turn of Jean Paul Gaultier, which announced in the early hours of Tuesday morning (April 15) that Dutch designer Duran Lantink would be taking the reins at the famed French maison. “I consider Jean Paul Gaultier a genius and part of a generation that kicked down doors, so people like us can walk through them freely and be who we are without apology,” said Lantink in a statement this morning. “Stepping into the role of creative director is a true honour.”
The appointment is the start of a fresh new era for the house, which is returning to the ready-to-wear schedule for the first time in over a decade. In September 2014, Gaultier shuttered the ready-to-wear label to focus on Haute Couture, which he continued until his final show for the SS20 season. After that, an era of guest designers took over the house each season, with the likes of Glenn Martens, Simone Rocha, Haider Ackermann and most recently Ludovic de Saint Sernin designing couture collections inspired by the archive. Now, that era of collaboration is over. Lantink is permanent creative director of both arms of the house, with his first ready-to-wear collection scheduled for September 25 at Paris Fashion Week, and his debut couture revealed in January 2026.
In the same statement released this morning, the OG JPG expressed his delight at Lantink’s appointment, saying: “I see in him the energy, audacity, and playful spirit through fashion that I had at the beginning of my own journey: the new enfant terrible of fashion. Welcome, Duran.” Elsewhere, Lantink added that the brand Gaultier built “represents the ultimate house of creative spirit and savoir-faire”.
“It’s provocative, and continuously pushing boundaries,” continued Lantink in the statement. “It’s the brand that brings together different disciplines around fashion to create cultural movements, changing the language of clothes and how we wear them in the streets.”
Though Lantink is well known to many within the industry, the appointment marks a happy shift in comparison to recent announcements, which have favoured industry titans with a public track record, or behind the scenes names with decades in the game. In comparison, Lantink is relatively untested. Though he launched his namesake brand in 2016 after graduating from Gerrit Rietveld Academie, the Dutch designer only began to show on the official PFW calendar in March 2023, for the AW23 season.
Since then, Lantink’s blown-up beachwear, distended sweaters and avant garde inclinations have caught the eye of many a fashion editor, who constantly use his clothes in editorials, and also wider fashion fans, who’ve elevated the designer to cult status. Industry bigwigs are also taking notice, with Lantink’s designs picking up the Andam Special Prize in 2023, LVMH’s Karl Lagerfeld Prize in 2024, and most recently the Woolmark Prize in 2025, presented by fashion icon Donatella Versace.
Scroll through the gallery at the top of the page to see Lantink’s most recent collection.
