December 1, 2022 |
It’s been a busy few weeks for the fashion world – major news after major news story has had the whole office absolutely floored. For one thing, in a bizarre turn of events Alessandro Michele bowed out of Gucci. Raf Simons also shuttered his eponymous label of 27 years, and Estée Lauder bought Tom Ford. Now Ann Demeulemeester has got a new boss: Ludovic de Saint Sernin.
You probably know him from his sensual namesake label, but the exceptionally skilled designer has just been appointed creative director of the fiercely independent brand renowned for its elegant tailoring, serene and darkly romantic yet glamorous aesthetic, and intriguing mix of edgy rebellion and sophistication. This evolution comes two years following the departure of creative director Sébastien Meunier from the brand in July 2020. Since Claudio Antonioli acquired the label that same year, it has operated by an unnamed internal design team.
Like Demeulemeester (of the Antwerp Six) herself, de Saint Sernin was born in Belgium. Paris-raised and l’ESAA Duperré-educated, he immediately garnered accolades for the hedonism of his sensual aesthetic and an individuality-driven, binary-breaking approach to design. De Saint Sernin worked for renowned French houses like Balmain, Dior and Saint Laurent before launching his eponymous label in 2017. Putting ambiguous bodies in see-through suits, crystal-embellished mesh tank tops, little lace-up briefs and form fitting knits. Building a star-spangled fanbase, his sex-positive, glamorous garments are designed from the heart.
To tease de Saint Sernin’s new vision for the house, the Willy Vanderperre-lensed and Olivier Rizzo styled portraits see the creative in archival pieces by Ann Demeulemeester herself, that date all the way back to the 1990s. The high-octane, contemporary tableaus seem to suggest that, perhaps, De Saint Sernin will be taking a similar approach at his new gig. “Authorship and autobiography gain centrality, as Ludovic de Saint Sernin shapes the Ann Demeulemeester traits around his vision, proclivities, and individuality offering a first-person reading and the connection with today’s audience that comes from that,” reads the press statement. Through, “sensuality, tension, silhouette, fluidity, wildness and a graphic feel,” the LdSS edition of Demeulemeester will come to life.
Ludovic de Saint Sernin’s debut collection for the label is set to be unveiled in March 2023 during Paris Fashion Week.
Photography by Willy Vanderperre.
