Dior saga continues, Maxime Simoens latest creator rumored to be linked to role
The ongoing fashion week season has seen designers ranging from Haider Ackermann to Christopher Kane linked to the creative director role at Christian Dior, and the latest creator to get caught up in the rumor mill is Maxime Simoens.
A report in WWD March 5 quoted industry sources as saying Paris-based fashion brand Leonard may be parting ways with its new creative director Maxime Simoens, adding that Christian Dior had been conducting talks with the 27-year-old creator, who also has his own eponymous line and only joined Leonard as creative director last October.
Simoens' debut Leonard presentation during Paris Fashion Week March 5 was somewhat overshadowed by all the speculation surrounding the report, with Leonard managing director Nathalie Tribouillard-Chassaing refusing to address questions about Simoens possibly departing.
"I don't know what these rumors are about. This is not at all topical. We are doing the show, and we'll see what happens afterward," she told the publication. Simoens himself would neither deny or confirm any changes.
"There is nothing to comment because we are in negotiations. For the moment, nothing is happening. So when something happens, we'll talk about it," he explained.
A string of designers including Marc Jacobs, Phoebe Philo, Riccardo Tisci and Alber Elbaz have been linked to the Dior job in the past, following John Galliano's dismissal last year. It had been thought an official announcement may have been made following the label's March 2 Paris Fashion Week show, instead the rumor mill has kept on turning.
