In a significant shift for the storied French fashion house, Jean Paul Gaultier has appointed Duran Lantink as its new creative director. The move signals the end of the brand’s experimental rotating designer model, which has been in place since Gaultier’s retirement from runway shows in 2020.
Under the ownership of Puig, the house had enlisted a roster of prominent guest designers—Chitose Abe, Glenn Martens, Olivier Rousteing, Haider Ackermann, Julien Dossena, Simone Rocha, Nicolas Di Felice, and Ludovic de Saint Sernin—to each reinterpret Gaultier’s couture legacy in their own distinct voice. The initiative, though unconventional, generated buzz and kept the label in the cultural conversation.
Now, Gaultier is turning a new page with Lantink, who will oversee both couture and ready-to-wear collections. Known for his innovative, sustainable approach and sharp deconstruction, Lantink is set to bring a cohesive creative vision to the house for the first time in years.
Dutch designer Duran Lantink, born in 1988, has carved out a distinctive place in fashion with his genderless, upcycled creations. He first captured international attention in 2018 when Janelle Monáe donned his provocative “vagina pants” in the music video for Pynk, a moment that marked his breakout on the global stage. Known for his bold, exaggerated silhouettes, Lantink has continued to challenge convention, earning the Andam Special Prize in 2023 and the Karl Lagerfeld Award from the LVMH Prize in 2024.
His Autumn/Winter 2025 show in Paris became one of the season’s most talked-about, opening with a female model in a male chest plate and closing with a male model in a sculpted female breast plate—an audacious commentary on gender norms in fashion. Most recently, Lantink was honored with the Woolmark Prize, presented by Donatella Versace and Ib Kamara. In his acceptance speech, he made his ethos clear: “Now more than ever, it’s important to be a bit more radical.”
Jean Paul Gaultier is pivoting from its headline-grabbing rotating designer model to a more traditional structure, naming a permanent creative director as it seeks stability and cohesion in a rapidly evolving fashion landscape. While the brand’s fragrance empire—anchored by bestsellers like Le Male and Scandal—continues to dominate its commercial footprint, the shift marks a strategic recalibration on the couture and ready-to-wear fronts.
The move signals the maison’s recognition of the challenges inherent in its experimental format. Though the rotating designer concept brought bursts of innovation, it also created logistical hurdles, including the need to constantly readjust its atelier to accommodate different creative visions. More critically, the model lacked the long-term creative direction needed to build momentum beyond seasonal buzz.
The appointment of Duran Lantink introduces a new era of unified authorship across both couture and ready-to-wear—areas that have lacked continuity since Jean Paul Gaultier stepped away from the runway in 2020. Until now, ready-to-wear was confined to occasional capsule collections, without a dedicated voice at the helm. Dividing leadership between two designers risked further blurring the brand’s identity, a risk Gaultier appears keen to avoid.
Lantink’s debut ready-to-wear collection is slated for Spring/Summer 2026, to be unveiled in September, with his first couture outing scheduled for January of the same year.
