Dutch designer Duran Lantink has been appointed permanent creative director for of Jean Paul Gaultier.
Duran replaces the brand’s eponymous founder.
Following Ludovic de Saint Sernin’s shipwreck-themed spring/summer 2025 show, the Dutch designer was originally speculated to be the next guest couture collaborator. Marking an end to the brand’s buzzy three-year experimental series, Duran steps forward as the first sole replacement for Jean Paul Gaultier at his legendary eponymous house.
Celebrating the news of the latest partnership on Instagram, both designers wrote “I see in him the energy, the audacity, and playful spirit through fashion that I had at the beginning of my own journey: the new enfant terrible of fashion. Welcome, Duran,” Gaultier wrote. Lantink also shared a photo of himself at 11 years old in his hometown of The Hague sporting his first ever JPG beanie. As the designer put it, he was totally obsessed and “[had] no clue I’d end up leading the house today!”
Initially a cult-favorite of fashion insiders, Lantink has progressively begun making mainstream shockwaves in recent seasons. Most notably, the brand’s fall/winter 2025 show went viral for sending a breastplate bouncing down the runway. Though prompting mixed opinions online, industry veterans welcomed the sudden laugh after a long four weeks on the fashion circuit. Earlier this month, the designer also won the International Woolmark Prize. Presented by Donatella Versace, Lantink will receive $300,000 AUD (approximately $195,000). The honor represented more than a cash infusion, though any designer these days would welcome it—the award cemented Lantink’s growing momentum.
The new appointment is set to inject unseen ideas into the brand’s creative directions and veins. The hallowed brand experienced an unprecedented renaissance with Gen Z during the pandemic. Resale prices for vintage pieces, though abundant, suddenly tripled on one hand. Besides capsule collaborations with designers including Glenn Martens and Shayne Oliver, the house was largely regurgitating the archives on the hand. Now, with Lantink’s fresh, keen eyes and similarly surrealist design ethos, fans and consumers will have something truly new to look forward to.
Lantink will not only step up to the helm of haute couture, but he will also officially reprise the ready-to-wear runway for the first time since JPG paused prêt-à-porter in 2015 according to the brand’s Instagram.
