Jean Paul Gaultier has appointed Dutch designer Duran Lantink as the house’s permanent creative director, marking a shift for the Puig-owned brand. Lantink’s appointment ends the experimental rotating model that began after Gaultier’s final runway show in 2020, a format that saw a series of guest designers, including Chitose Abe, Glenn Martens, Olivier Rousteing, Haider Ackermann, and Simone Rocha, reinterpret the brand’s couture codes.
Known for his conceptual, often provocative upcycling and gender-fluid creations, Lantink will lead both couture and ready-to-wear for the maison. The designer, who rose to international attention in 2018 when Janelle Monáe wore his “vagina pants” in the “Pynk” video, has since built a reputation for pushing the conversation forward through fashion. His appointment signals a new direction for the house, one focused on continuity and evolution rather than seasonal reinvention.
Jean Paul Gaultier praised the designer as a kindred force. “I see in him the energy, audacity and playful spirit through fashion that I had at the beginning of my own journey: the new enfant terrible of fashion,” Gaultier said in a statement. Lantink, for his part, called the maison “the ultimate house of creative spirit and savoir faire,” adding, “It’s provocative, and continuously pushing boundaries… changing the language of clothes and how we wear them in the streets.”
Lantink will place his namesake brand on hold as he steps into this new role. Born in 1988, he launched his label in 2016 with a focus on sustainability and deconstruction. His work has consistently leaned into exaggerated shapes and subversive forms, most recently seen in his Fall 2025 Paris show, where a woman walked in a sculpted male chest plate and a man closed the runway in a female breastplate. Earlier this month, he received the International Woolmark Prize, presented by Donatella Versace and Ib Kamara.
The rotating designer strategy brought consistent media buzz to Jean Paul Gaultier, refreshing the brand’s presence each couture season and drawing new audiences. However, the model proved operationally complex, requiring the in-house atelier to adapt to vastly different visions every six months. The decision to appoint a full-time creative lead suggests a desire for structural cohesion, especially as the house prepares to scale up ready-to-wear after years of capsule-focused releases.
The move may also reflect a broader shift away from the novelty-driven rotating model, which other brands like AZ Factory and Pucci have also tested in recent years with mixed results. Gaultier’s decision signals a recommitment to long-term creative authorship and a more unified aesthetic direction.
Lantink’s first ready-to-wear collection for Jean Paul Gaultier is scheduled for September 2025, with his couture debut to follow in January 2026.
