This post-shakeup season brings a flood of high-profile debut collections across Milan and Paris: Demna at Gucci, Jonathan Anderson at Dior, Matthieu Blazy at Chanel, and Meryll Rogge at Marni, among plenty more historic firsts. Each collection marks a pivotal handoff in fashion’s ongoing game of musical chairs. Below, CULTURED offers a need-to-know guide—packed with predictions, reflections, and insider context as the fashion industry readies itself for the dramatic changes ahead.
Gucci
New Designer: Demna
Previously At: Balenciaga
First Collection: On Sept. 23, Gucci will reveal Demna’s first designs in a presentation format; fans will have to wait until next March for the designer’s inaugural show with the Italian house.
Claim to Fame: From IKEA bags to mud-covered runways and a $300 DHL tire T-shirt, Demna is fashion’s foremost provocateur, with a wide runway at Gucci to continue his particular brand of storytelling.
Most Notable Collection (Thus Far): The yellow DHL tee heard ’round the world—the designer and his brother Guram’s Spring/Summer 2016 show for Vetements saw new levels of virality for the brand, with the tee, orange Vetements logo long-sleeves, and sprays of floral pattern-work hinting at a future cocktail of sensation, campish subversion, and fields of blooms, which served as a consistent feature across garments during the designer’s time at Balenciaga.
First Crumbs: Via the German newspaper Die Zeit, a May interview with Demna revealed an interest in turning away from oversized silhouettes, a stylistic cue which marked much of his previous tenures.
Bottega Veneta
New Designer: Louise Trotter
Previously At: Carven
First Collection: Trotter will unveil her first take on Bottega Veneta with a runway show on Sept. 28.
Claim to Fame: The English-born designer has lent her sharp, unfussy approach to ready-to-wear at lines including Lacoste, Calvin Klein, and, of course, Carven.
Most Notable Collection (Thus Far): Carven’s Spring/Summer 2024 collection teases some notions of contemporary Bottega Veneta world-building, which Trotter may be inclined to transpose onto her new mandate. From assertive silhouettes to bright washes of primary and earth-toned colors, the looks are equal parts graceful, simple, and evergreen.
First Crumbs: CULTURED Fall issue cover star Vicky Krieps has been named a new ambassador, wearing a teased Trotter design at the Venice Film Festival.
Versace
New Designer: Dario Vitale
Previously At: Miu Miu
First Collection: Versace will trade in the runway format for an intimate presentation for Vitale’s debut with the house on Sept. 26.
Claim to Fame: Vitale worked his way up the ranks at Miu Miu for over a decade, eventually being appointed the brand’s design director and head of image under Miuccia Prada herself.
Most Notable Collection (Thus Far): Miu Miu—ever the playful sister to Prada—and Vitale’s home before Versace, eschewed the traditional runway format for Fall/Winter 2021 with a presentation on the slopes outside the Italian ski resort town of Cortina d’Ampezzo. As the brand’s ready-to-wear design director, Vitale masterfully took to the task of an alps-forward collection, emphasizing his fluid ability to mold craft to the ever-changing landscape.
First Crumbs: Look so nice, they wore it twice. At the Venice Film Festival, Julia Roberts’s debut in a much-discussed, Vitale-designed navy blazer, striped button-down, and straight jeans caught the eye of Amanda Seyfried, who took on the same look with altered styling (a tad further unbuttoning of the shirt, and sandals to Roberts’s pumps) just three days after it was first revealed.
Jil Sander
New Designer: Simone Bellotti
Previously At: Bally
First Collection: Bellotti will make his Jil Sander debut with a runway show on Sept. 24.
Claim to Fame: Bellotti spent 16 years at Gucci before moving to Bally in 2022, where he was appointed creative director the following year.
Most Notable Collection (Thus Far): Bally’s Fall/Winter 2025 collection saw the designer visualize a design credo that may have been applicably attractive when the OTB Group (Jil Sander’s owners) was floating his name. The collection was highly-tailored, but not brashly daring, strongly-belted and accessorized, but restrained. This balanced wielding of sartorial force—long a Jil Sander staple—may continue to serve Bellotti well at his new house.
First Crumbs: In a video shot in Hamburg, the eponymous designer’s hometown where the label was launched in 1968, Bellotti looks to the brand’s roots through airy, on-the-ground visuals, with musical accompaniment via a co-launched EP with melodic electronic artist Bochum Welt.
Marni
New Designer: Meryll Rogge
Previously At: Meryll Rogge
First Collection: Marni acolytes will have to wait until next February for Rogge’s spin on the Milanese house’s legacy.
Claim to Fame: Rogge became the first woman to be named Designer of the Year at the Belgian Fashion Awards in 2024.
Most Notable Collection (Thus Far): Rather than a collection, her latest appointment was narrowly preceded by her success as the 2025 Andam Grand Prize recipient, a prestigious fashion award which recognizes excellence in emerging labels—an affirmation of Rogge’s design chops as she takes on Marni’s creative direction.
First Crumbs: While little has been revealed before the designer’s debut, past personality points-of-interest including unorthodox venues (a bowling alley under the Arc de Triomphe for Fall/Winter 2023 and a set packed with vintage wallpapers from a shop in Ghent), as well as the filling out of the Meryll Rogge team with an all-female staff, point toward an assertive reimagining of the Marni world.
Dior
New Designer: Jonathan Anderson
Previously At: Loewe
First Collection: Anderson will show his first womenswear collection with Dior on Oct. 1.
Fun Fact: The Northern Irish designer is as ambitious as he is adventurous sartorially. Over the past two decades, he has left his mark on everything from Uniqlo to Luca Guadagnino’s movies to his whimsical eponymous brand, JW Anderson.
Most Notable Collection (Thus Far): As well as the quintessentially Andersonian elements of Loewe’s Fall/Winter 2024, unexpected prints and wink-worthy accessorizing among them, the show was punctuated by a now-understood power of Anderson’s that found its (viral) footing that season—utilizing the pull of celebrity. House friends including Josh O’Connor and Omar Apollo were sainted in stained glass video installations and highly circulated across post-show content online, unlocking a key to lasting staying power through the churn of the fashion machine.
First Crumbs: After a Spring/Summer 2026 menswear debut in June which saw around one billion views across platforms, the designer has seeded his new take on Dior—or at least the classic, delicate, and suave silhouettes that have been seen—on talent including actors Andrew Garfield, Sam Nivola, and Greta Lee.
Mugler
New Designer: Miguel Castro Freitas
Previously At: Sportmax (under Max Mara)
First Collection: The Portuguese designer will make his Mugler debut on Oct. 2.
Claim to Fame: Freitas comes to Mugler with an enviable CV of luxury mainstays under his belt, including Dior, Lanvin, Dries Van Noten, and Yves Saint Laurent.
Most Notable Collection (Thus Far): Sportmax’s Fall/Winter 2024 collection saw some of the sauntering, come-hither flavor of Mugler across mini dresses, fur jackets hanging low off of models’s shoulder, and deep, inky blues and blacks—a cocktail of imagination that speaks to the designer’s aligned point-of-view with the house of Mugler.
First Crumbs: While Castro Freitas has yet to take on the creative director role at a principal fashion house, his appointment at Mugler will offer new eyes on a brand which has more recently relied heavily on its past heritage—including an expansive exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum and viral archival pulls for celebrities including Cardi B and Zendaya.
Carven
New Designer: Mark Howard Thomas
Previously At: Lacoste
First Collection: The low-profile Central Saint Martins grad will debut his first Carven collection on Oct. 2.
Claim to Fame: Thomas will take on this role from another buzzy designer on this list, Louise Trotter. The two also previously worked closely together at U.K. label Joseph and Lacoste.
Most Notable Collection (Thus Far): While he’s one of two on this list (including Freitas) who have had yet to take on the leadership of a creative director, his streamlined menswear at Lacoste is worth a notable mention for its sharp and timely sport-meets-tailoring language under Louise Trotter.
First Crumbs: As an interior hire to the top seat at Carven, one doesn’t have to look far into the brand’s recent past collections to see Thomas’s visualization of pragmatic elegance and soft hues, something to keep an eye on as his first collection unfolds.
Loewe
New Designer: Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez
Previously At: Proenza Schouler
First Collection: McCollough and Hernandez will unveil their Loewe-verse on Oct. 3.
Claim to Fame: The duo, who founded Proenza Schouler while in school at Parsons, won the first CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund prize in 2004.
Most Notable Collection (Thus Far): It’s hard to argue with the iconic status of their senior Parsons collection (and first round of looks for the brand), which saw a complete buyout from Barneys and helped to launch the designers’ careers in New York’s fashion ecosystem.
First Crumbs: While Jonathan Anderson laid the groundwork for a reinvented Loewe, it will be up to 2024 CULT100 recipients McCollough and Hernandez to continue the brand’s performance on the global mainstage, bringing New York edge and their succinct vision of the contemporary woman to the Paris-based brand.
Balenciaga
New Designer: Pierpaolo Piccioli
Previously At: Valentino
First Collection: The Italian designer will premiere his vision of the Spanish brand on Oct. 4
Claim to Fame: The couturier’s appointment signals a return to a more romantic Balenciaga, after his graceful, gown-forward tenure at Valentino.
Most Notable Collection (Thus Far): Piccioli’s legacy at Valentino is solidified in his reliable (but never boring) delivery of haute couture gowns—billowy, puffy, and rendered in rosy pinks and baby blues—worn by stars including Tracee Ellis Ross and Lady Gaga.
First Crumbs: While Demna turned Balenciaga’s brand codes on their head, Piccioli is expected to bring an air of refined elegance and reflection on the legacy of Cristóbal Balenciaga to the storied maison (per commentary in trade publications including the Business of Fashion and in online chatter), given his background in similar strains of luxury output.
Jean Paul Gaultier
New Designer: Duran Lantink
Previously At: Duran Lantink
First Collection: The Dutch designer will show his first Jean Paul Gaultier collection on Oct. 5, followed by a haute-couture debut next January.
Claim to Fame: After several couture seasons featuring a rotating cast of guest directors, Lantink will be the brand’s first permanent creative director since the namesake designer’s tenure ended in 2020.
Most Notable Collection (Thus Far): While Lantink’s last collection for Fall/Winter 2025 gave rise to viral chatter on the stunt and/or commentary on gender presentation—depending on one’s persuasion—it’s possible that the designer’s most notable work will arrive through employment of the Jean Paul Gaultier brand story itself, a heritage rich with sensuality and flair not far off from Lantink’s existing credo.
First Crumbs: Aside from a particularly cheeky Spring/Summer 2025 campaign for his namesake brand and a sinewy, striped shroud on a white plane in his announcement portrait for the Gaultier role, little else has been revealed about Lantink’s debut.
Chanel
New Designer: Matthieu Blazy
Previously At: Bottega Veneta
First Collection: The Chanel successor to Virginie Viard will show his first womenswear collection with the French house on Oct. 6, before heading to New York to unveil his first Métiers d’Art collection in December.
Claim to Fame: Raf Simons was a member of the jury for the 2006 International Talent Support prize and hired finalist Blazy to come work for him, a kick-off that would lead to roles at Maison Margiela, Celine, and his star turn at Bottega Veneta.
Most Notable Collection (Thus Far): Blazy’s first major mark in fashion history came from his ascension to the creative director position at Bottega Veneta. His debut Fall/Winter 2022 collection delivered an advancement of Daniel Lee’s sartorial language alongside innovations such as a faux white tee and jeans both rendered in leather, and dancing swaths of festive, first season fringe.
First Crumbs: Per Women’s Wear Daily, Blazy has hired Maison Margiela’s Andrew Heather for an unnamed top position at the house in haute couture.
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