Ludovic de Saint Sernin Has Been Named Creative Director of Ann Demeulemeester
The fashion world shuffle continues, and following the news of Alessandro Michele’s departure from Gucci and Raf Simmons’ eponymous label closing over the past few weeks, we finally have news that promises a new era. Ludovic de Saint Sernin, known for his own provocative namesake label, has been named the creative director of Ann Demeulemeester and will show his first collection for the brand in March 2023 during Paris Fashion Week.
Like Demeulemeester herself, De Saint Sernin was born in Belgium. The designer was raised in Paris and eventually graduated from the École Supérieure des Arts Appliqués Duperré. He worked at a variety of French fashion houses including Balmain before opening his own eponymous label in 2017. Through his collections, De Saint Sernin emphasized sexuality and freedom of expression, sending models of all genders down the runway in sheer tops, leather skirts, and slinky metal mesh pieces. Over the past five years, De Saint Sernin has established himself as a designer to watch, gaining a fanbase including the likes of Dua Lipa, Troye Sivan, and even Kim Kardashian. He also scored quite the casting coup for an up-and-coming designer when both Gigi and Bella Hadid walked his fall 2022 runway back in March.
Fans of both De Saint Sernin and Demeulemeester can see the intersection of where the two aesthetics may meet when De Saint Sernin presents his first show next year. Demeulemeester is known for its gothic style, and also often scoffs in the face of gendered dressing. Likely, De Saint Sernin will continue his genderless designing at Demeulemeester while bringing a bit more skin to the brand that often covers up its models in yards of draped black fabric. In a statement released along with the announcement, the brand hinted at what’s to come now that De Saint Sernin is taking control.
“Sensuality, tension, silhouette, fluidity, wildness, and a graphic feel are defining pillars of the language Ludovic de Saint Sernin is about to build as he traces the new course of Ann Demeulemeester, injecting his approach to fashion as a tool to shape and free one’s presence and appearance,” the brand wrote.
Demeulemeester herself officially stepped away from the brand about a decade ago, but has remained involved in a less formal nature since then. In 2020, Claudio Anonioli purchased Ann Demeulemeester and the creative director at that time, Sébastien Meunier, stepped down. Since then, the collections have been created by an unnamed in-house design team.
