Louis de Saint-Sernin designed Anne Demelemester

Ann Demeulemeester, the Belgian label acquired by Italian entrepreneur Claudio Antonioli in 2020, has appointed Paris-based designer Louis de Saint-Sernin as its new creative director.

De Saint Sernin’s first collection for the brand will be presented in March 2023 during Paris Fashion Week, the brand said. The designer plans to continue his eponymous brand.

The appointment comes as Anne Demelmeester looks to revive her business following the sale of Antonioli, the influential retailer and co-founder of Milan-based streetwear-focused New Guards Group. The revenues of the parent company of the BBVA 32 brand (founded by businesswoman Anne Chapelle) in 2019 amounted to 14.5 million euros.

With a new owner, some of the label’s fans had hoped that its founding designer — a member of the famed Antwerp Six, who left his eponymous brand in 2013 — would return to the company. Last year, Demeulemeester returned to the brand to work on special projects, including the creation of Ann Demeulemeester’s first perfume, a long-dormant idea she shelved years ago. But it seems that rapprochement did not happen.

De Saint Sernin launched his eponymous label in 2017, creating a signature vocabulary of open-ended, gender-fluid pieces rich in lace and crystal embellishments. The brand has built a loyal following for its body-hugging underwear, dick-print pants, knit tops and silk blouses, which are sold at retailers including Matchesfashion and SSense. The label is still assembled by hand in a small Parisian workshop.

While the designer’s sexy DIY aesthetic may seem strange to Demelemester’s gothic bohemian universe, the designers share a penchant for monochrome, draped and deconstructed looks.

“Sensuality, tension, silhouette, fluidity, wildness and graphic feeling define the pillars of the language that Louis de Saint-Sernin is going to build, tracing the new course of Anne Demelemester, introducing his approach to fashion as a tool for formation and liberation. its presence and appearance,” the brand noted.