Who Will Take Over From Raf Simons at Dior?

We imagine what other designers would do at the iconic French fashion house

When the news broke on Thursday that creative director Raf Simons was leaving Dior, the fashion world was taken by surprise. Having held the position since April 2015, the much esteemed director’s shock departure seemed sudden and abrupt. His imaginative take on the classic house was loved by fashion critics and celebrities alike and his cult following included famous faces such as Rihanna and Jennifer Lawrence. His reimagination of the classic Bar jacket and his groundbreaking shows at the Louvre and the Palais Bulles will be forever loved and remembered. But as it always goes, almost instantly speculations regarding who would be his successor were rife. With rumours of everyone from Marc Jacobs to even Galliano in the running to take over we decided to let our imagination run wild and fantasize about what it’d be like if other designers were at the helm of Dior. We merged classic Dior pieces with iconic designs from various creative directors to imagine what Dior could look like in the future.

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Alber Elbaz

As if the shock of Raf leaving Dior wasn’t enough, another shocking announcement that Alber Elbaz would be leaving his position of creative director at the French maison Lanvin, after 14 years of romantic designs took the fashion world by storm. We loved Elbaz at Lanvin for his feminine designs such as sweet pussy bow blouses and ladylike sillhouettes. Could Elbaz be the perfect candidate to replace Raf at Dior? Especially considering the fact that when Galliano was expelled from Dior,  he’s believed to have been engaged in discussions with Dior regarding the position. To visualise what he would do at the house we combined the iconic Miss Dior fragrance with one of Elbaz’s adorable bow ties...could this be the future?!

Riccardo Tisci

Italian designer Riccardo Tisci has held the role of creative director at Givenchy since 2005. Famous for his instantly recognizable religious symbols and gothic aesthetic we reimagined the classic Dior Bar Bag (much loved by the likes of Charlize Theron and Amal Clooney) with Tisci’s distinctly dark Madonna prints. Channel Givenchy goth vibes with seductive lace bodysuits under women's hooded jackets.

Phoebe Philo

Brit born Phoebe is creative director of French brand Céline, widely regarded as the Queen of minimalism she creates classic pieces that set trends. Famous for designing Céline’s it-bags including the Trio and the Luggage we merged the iconic Lady Dior Bag with the Céline Trapeze to create something that’d be at the top of every fashion girl’s wishlist.

J.W. Anderson

Whilst a little more unknown, Anderson has a stellar fashion CV: he’s currently at luxury Spanish house Loewe and prior to this was at Versus and collaborated with Topshop. His last collection in Paris saw models legs memorably wrapped in cellophane so we decided to imagine what Dior’s heels would look like with the same treatment!

Marc Jacobs

Iconic designer Marc Jacobs is hotly tipped to take over from Raf. Having worked at Vuitton for 16 years we can definitely imagine him making the move to Dior. We merged his fun fun Daisy perfume with the elegant J’adore Dior perfume for a fresh take on the bottle.

Christopher Kane

Our personal favourite successor would be British designer Christopher Kane. Having had his own label since 2006 he’s made a name for himself as a true visionary, constantly innovating and creating trendsetting pieces. His unique A/W 2015/16 collection was inspired by his life drawing sketches and has been worn by celebrities such as FKA Twigs and Alexa Chung. We merged this design with one of Simons’ most famous dresses that he designed for Jennifer Lawrence at the 2013 Academy Awards (the night she graciously fell up the stairs while accepting her Oscar).