perhydrol
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I just don't understand this decision at all since their greatest hit seems to be inflatable animals on models' heads and a weak take on streetwear but okay...
from WWDPARIS — Buzzy young Dutch designer duo Rushemy Botter and Lisi Herrebrugh have been named the new artistic directors for fashion at Nina Ricci, WWD has learned.
The pair, which scooped the Première Vision Grand Prize at the Hyères International Festival of Fashion and Photography in April for their men’s wear collection infused with Caribbean style, begins at Puig immediately overseeing Nina Ricci’s women’s ready-to-wear business.
Their first collection for the house is to be presented during the pre-fall 2019 season. Then the fall 2019 line will be shown in March on the official Paris Fashion Week calendar.
According to José Manuel Albesa, president of brands, markets and operations at Puig, the Spanish fragrance and fashion group that owns Nina Ricci, Botter and Herrebrugh will bring a contemporary edge to the brand that’s already full of femininity and heritage, as well as “a big dose of coolness.”
“We were looking for someone unique,” he told WWD in an exclusive interview. Albesa also characterized the designers’ work as poetic, playful and bold. “They did some sketches to show their vision for the brand, and I was really amazed because it was not an evolution, it was a revolution.”
The executive called Botter and Herrebrugh, who grew up on the islands of Curaçao and Dominican Republic, respectively, masters of color. “They have this kind of Caribbean joie de vivre. It’s very appropriate for the brand, and it’s extremely appropriate for the times,” he said.
The duo is relocating from Antwerp to Paris in September with their men’s wear brand, Botter. The designers drew interest from several major brands after reaching the final of this year’s edition of the LVMH Prize for Young Designers.
“Their universe expresses a passionate force, a sincerity and an extraordinary boldness deeply rooted in their time,” Charlotte Tasset, the recently appointed general manager fashion and fragrances at Nina Ricci, said in a statement. “Mixed with the natural sweetness and poetry present in their vision, this unique creative spirit will give birth to the new Nina Ricci woman.”
The designers said they “feel very inspired by the fresh, feminine and subtle codes that make Nina Ricci such a beautiful ode to femininity. We aim to create a new spirit, a spirit of our times, effortless yet sophisticated, strong yet positive.”
The Nina Ricci nomination is part of Puig’s plan to develop a new business model for its fashion houses, according to Albesa.
“We see that today, the typical model is getting obsolete and things are changing in a big way, not only because of the Millennials and the digital acceleration, but overall. When you see what the consumer is looking for today, it’s not the same as when we started in fashion,” he said.
The first order of business has been to recruit a strong tandem of a general manager and an artistic director at each brand. The appointment of Botter and Herrebrugh is Tasset’s first big move since joining Nina Ricci in May, two months after the departure of creative director Guillaume Henry following a three-year stint at the house.
Other creative heads at Nina Ricci, which in its recent history has had a lot of designers come and go, have included Peter Copping, Nathalie Gervais, Massimo Giussani, James Aguiar, Lars Nilsson and Olivier Theyskens.
Boldness is needed for the house, according to Albesa, who said, “We have been perhaps too shy with Nina Ricci.”
He suggested the brand take a cue from the name of its best-selling fragrance, L’Air du Temps, and move with the times. “You cannot neglect your heritage, but you have to adapt to the changes. And fashion has changed so much in the last years that perhaps we were quite conservative in respecting and protecting this heritage,” he said.
“It needs a new fresh vision of what is Parisian today, what is poetry today, what is femininity today. It really needs to capture the Millennial. It has always had a more mature target, and it’s time to shake this up and to come back with something more L’Air du Temps,” Albesa added.
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