Raf Simons is Prada's new co-creative director

UPDATE 23/02/2020: On the occasion of the closing of Milan Fashion Week Women's FW20, Prada has made the official announcement that Raf Simons will become co-creative director of Prada from April 2. Her responsibilities will cover both menswear and Prada's womenswear, while no mention has been made of a revival of Miu Miu's menswear line as initially assumed. Here are Simons' words at the announcement:

"I’m very pleased to announce our partnership on Prada, a brand I’ve been interested in my whole life."

And Miuccia Prada added:

"I’m extremely happy to start this new phase, it’s certainly going to be extremely exciting. [...] The contract is forever, there is no end date to the contract.”

Simons' new role at Prada marks the start of two of the biggest names in the fashion world. The first collection from the new creative partnership will be Prada's SS21 which will be shown in September.

At five to eight on Wednesday, February 22nd, Jacob Gallagher, Men's Fashion Editor of Off Duty and columnist of The Wall Street Journal, tweeted

"Getting word that Raf Simons is going to Prada. No other details".

The tweet was promptly deleted by the journalist, perhaps because it was an unfounded rumor, perhaps because the news was under embargo, but the question remained, since leaks like this often contain some truth. According to WWD, Simons could become the creative director of Miu Miu, tasked with resurrecting the brand's menswear line. This may explain why Miu Miu's communications offices are about to be moved from Paris to Milan.

After all, Simons is no stranger to Prada and the group behind the brand, which in 2005 hired the Belgian designer as creative director of Jil Sander, a position he held for over six years, until 2012. Among other things, Prada has recently embarked on a new partnership with adidas, a brand of which Simons is a long-time collaborator. It cannot be ruled out that the German brand can also act as a point of contact in a possible collaboration. In 2016 he and Miuccia Prada starred in a very long interview in System Magazine where Simons said:

"I would be excited if Miuccia would do the Raf Simons brand for a season, and then I would do a season for Marc Jacobs in New York, and Marc would do Prada; I think the audience would be totally excited by that. [...] Maybe fashion should operate more like a museum, where you have a museum curator, but you have guest curators come in, too. I think that the fashion business has recently stopped exploring its own possibilities. [...] If Miuccia or Marc Jacobs say, ‘I am going to let this person do my brand for a season, and then I am going there for a season’, then others will follow".

These words from four years ago take on a new meaning in the light of Gallagher's tweet and we might rightly wonder if Simons and Miuccia Prada have surprises in store for us.