Will Pieter Mulier really be Versace's next designer? The rumors are so persistent that it's hard not to believe them

Speaking ill of others does harm, but often one guesses right, as Giulio Andreotti used to say. In the same way, gossiping about upcoming creative director changes in fashion is not an exact science, but you almost always end up being correct. And the persistence of rumors positioning Pieter Mulier as the next creative director of Versace, reported by both Lauren Sherman and WWD, leads us to believe that the news is simply awaiting official confirmation. But what do we really know?

A coveted creative

WWD sources indicate that Pieter Mulier, current creative director of Maison Azzedine Alaïa, is the chosen candidate to take over the creative direction of Versace, recently acquired by the Prada Group. The new owners, as we already reported when Dario Vitale left, spent a significant amount to acquire the brand and are in a certain hurry to recoup their investment and get Versace back to full speed. To achieve this, the quickest path is obviously to hire a renowned and prominent creative director.

According to the same sources, interest in Mulier materialized as early as the beginning of December (as we will see shortly, it had been discussed for almost a year) coinciding with the announcement of Vitale’s departure. But designers are not trading cards—multi-million-euro contracts are involved: it seems that the Richemont Group, owner of Alaïa, wants to retain the Belgian designer who, since 2021, has turned the brand into a global heavyweight. However, rumors suggest that Mulier is the target chosen by the Prada Group, to the point that even “Plan B” hypotheses involving Anthony Vaccarello have been shelved.

Always keep friends close

According to Lauren Sherman, in reality, Mulier was the designated figure by the brand’s executives well before the deal with Prada, and what makes the idea of a move from one brand to another more plausible is the fact that Alaïa’s owners, the Richemont Group, make most of their money from jewelry and fragrances (and already earn plenty from them), so the venerable brand founded by the late Azzedine is beautiful and important but unlikely to be a horse to bet on if the race gets tough.

Adding further credibility to the news is the decades-long professional and personal relationship binding Mulier to Raf Simons, of whom the designer has essentially been the right-hand man through all the various creative directorships assigned to Simons over the years. Now that Simons’ role at Prada has expanded and solidified, it makes sense that Mulier represents not only a professional with a proven track record but also a friend to keep close.

Versace’s future in the coming months

It seems, therefore, that we will have to wait a while longer for an actual appointment, unless the various contractual issues are resolved quickly. It would also seem appropriate to give Mulier a farewell show for Alaïa. Furthermore, returning to WWD, it appears that Lorenzo Bertelli, the new executive chairman of Versace, has chosen to correct the sudden shift in direction undertaken by Dario Vitale to bring the brand back to territories that are certainly new but more familiar and, in our view, more “digestible” for the broad audience it aims to conquer. Talks have reportedly been held with Donatella and Allegra Versace to establish the brand’s next steps.

The most certain thing, however, is that the brand will be absent from Milan Fashion Week in January and may also skip the next women’s edition. Sources diverge here: according to WWD, the brand should not show at all until the SS27 season; according to Lauren Sherman, the brand’s team is working on the FW26 collection, which could indeed be the focus of a presentation—a choice that would, in fact, be more strategically economical than a full runway show without a true creative director.

Takeaways

- Increasingly persistent rumors point to Pieter Mulier, current creative director of Azzedine Alaïa, as the next creative director of Versace, with the news appearing to await only official confirmation.

- The Prada Group, the brand’s new owner, wants to bet on Mulier to quickly relaunch Versace and recoup its investment, while Richemont is trying to retain him due to his successes at Alaïa—though, given Richemont’s primary focus on jewelry, Alaïa is not an absolute priority.

- The long professional and personal relationship with Raf Simons, co-creative director of Prada, makes Mulier’s candidacy even more plausible. Lorenzo Bertelli intends to correct the direction taken by Dario Vitale, bringing the brand back to an aesthetic less niche than the one created by Vitale.

- Versace will skip the January Milan Fashion Week and may also forgo the women’s edition, awaiting the new creative direction or opting for a simple presentation.