FILE PHOTO: Belgian designer Raf Simons appears at the end of his Haute Couture Spring Summer 2015 fashion show for French fashion house Christian Dior in Paris January 26, 2015. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes
MILAN (Reuters) – Raf Simons will join Prada as co-creative director, marking the first time the Italian fashion house will have an outsider working with renowned head designer Miuccia Prada.
Belgian-born Simons, 52, will join Prada on April 2, the group said in a statement. He was most recently creative director at Calvin Klein.
A multi-year restructuring at Prada began to pay off in 2018 when sales returned to grow for the first time in four years thanks to a new strategy aimed at rejuvenating the brand by renovating shops, launching new products and boosting online sales.
Miuccia Prada, 70, told a news conference in Milan that Simons’ appointment was not intended to pave the way for a possible succession as Prada’s top designer.
“Absolutely not,” she told reporters. “I like working, don’t make me older than I am,” she said.
Reporting by Claudia Cristoferi; Writing by Silvia Aloisi; Editing by Frances Kerry