Jean Paul Gaultier is changing strategy. After the designer retired from the runway in 2020, the Puig-owned namesake house initiated a rotating guest talents who created each couture collection, interpreting the spirit of the brand, including Chitose Abe, Glenn Martens, Olivier Rousteing, Haider Ackermann, Julien Dossena, Simone Rocha, Nicolas Di Felice e Ludovic de Saint Sernin. Now, the maison chooses a permanent creative director, Duran Lantink, to lead both couture and ready-to-wear.

The Dutch designer will present the first ready-to-wear collection in Paris during RTW women’s fashion week on September 25. His debut Haute-Couture collection will be in January 2026.

“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,” said Jean Paul Gaultier.

"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. Stepping into the role of Creative Director is a true honor. To me, Gaultier represents the ultimate house of creative spirit and savoir-faire. It's provocative and continuously pushing boundaries. 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,” commented Duran Lantink.

Duran Lantink is based between Amsterdam and Paris, and is known for its unique garments and ever-evolving, conscious collections. In a process that fuses pre-loved pieces, deadstock, and sustainable materials, garments transform with the zeitgeist. A continuous dialogue between designer and owner makes each creation timeless and one-of-a-kind. The brand made its Paris Fashion Week debut in 2023 by merging bespoke three-dimensional sculpting techniques with traditional handiwork. Lantink is the winner of the International Woolmark Prize 2025, and he also won the Andam Special Prize in 2023 and the LVMH Karl Lagerfeld Prize in 2024.