Olivier Theyskens Joins Azzaro as Artistic Director
By Alice Ierace
The House of Azzaro has announced the appointment of the Franco-Belgian designer Olivier Theyskens as its new Artistic Director. He will now be in charge of the Brand’s Couture collections, Ready-to-Wear lines, as well as Women’s and Men’s accessories.
Olivier Theyskens will bring into the workshops of rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré his modern vision and sensibility to the Azzaro silhouette and his first collection will be unveiled during Haute Couture Week in Paris in July 2020.
“Loris Azzaro left behind a considerable, very inspiring legacy. I am excited, thrilled and honoured to have the opportunity of bringing my vision to this legendary, iconoclastic House, for which freedom and pleasure remain ever-as-contemporary founding values. I would like to carry on this atypical universe through my collections while infusing them with my own perspective,” explained Olivier Theyskens in a statement.
Gabriel de Linage, CEO of the House, added: “His renowned talent, experience and creative vision will empower the House future with spirit and sparkle. Olivier Theyskens has a unique ability to immerse himself in a legacy and to revisit it in a contemporary verve. His fondness for asserted sensuousness and the flowing contrasts of materials and cuts naturally echo the style of Loris Azzaro and his emblematic muses. We are thrilled to welcome him to our House and to our historical workshops.”
While still an undergraduate at the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Visuels de la Cambre, Theyskens launched his first Ready-to-Wear brand, which quickly gained widespread public exposure in 1998 when Madonna wore one of his designs to the Oscars ceremony after seeing his first collection.
Having worked as the Artistic Director of French and American brands, he received the prestigious CFDA International Award in 2006, succeeding Albert Elbaz and preceding Dries Van Noten and Marc Jacobs.
In 2016, he reinstated his brand in Paris and presented during the official Ready-to-Wear schedule. He will continue to work for his own brand in parallel to his new responsibilities.
