BEHIND THE STITCH: ALANI
June 21, 2024
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In a thrilling twist that has the fashion world buzzing, Dutch designer Duran Lantink has been appointed as the new and first permanent creative director of Jean Paul Gaultier since the legendary couturier himself. Officially announced on April 15, 2025, this historic appointment not only marks the end of Gaultier’s rotating guest designer experiment but also launches a daring new era for the iconic French maison. Lantink’s debut ready-to-wear collection is set to hit the Paris Fashion Week runway in September 2025, with his first haute couture presentation to follow in January 2026. The message is loud and clear: Jean Paul Gaultier is back in full force, with a fresh yet familiar maverick steering the ship.
For those unfamiliar with Duran Lantink’s work, he’s no stranger to disruption. The Amsterdam-born visionary shot into the spotlight when pop powerhouse Janelle Monáe wore his infamous “vagina pants” in her 2018 music video for “PYNK”–a bold, gender-expansive statement piece that quickly became a viral symbol of fashion as feminist art. Since then, Lantink has carved a niche for himself with his masterful use of deadstock, his sharp tailoring, and a deconstructionist approach that aligns perfectly with the spirit of the Gaultier brand. His designs are provocative but never gimmicky, political yet wearable, artistic without losing sight of the body beneath the garment.
Jean Paul Gaultier himself endorsed the decision with characteristic flair, declaring, “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.” That’s no light statement coming from the man who once put Madonna in cone bras, sent men down the runway in skirts, and built an empire by making subversion stylish. In Lantink, Gaultier has found a kindred spirit; someone not content with mere reinvention, but who seeks to reconstruct the very language of fashion from the ground up.
Lantink’s appointment also marks the end of Gaultier’s five-year run of inviting guest designers each couture season–a creative carousel that saw brilliant minds like Glenn Martens, Simone Rocha, Haider Ackermann, and Olivier Rousteing each bring their own take on the house’s rich archive. While the guest designer format kept things fresh, it also fragmented the brand’s direction. With Lantink at the helm, Jean Paul Gaultier is re-establishing continuity, coherence, and creative longevity–qualities essential for reviving its long-dormant ready-to-wear division, which shuttered in 2015.
Beyond his viral fashion moments, Lantink’s résumé speaks volumes. He clinched the prestigious ANDAM Special Prize in 2023 and followed it up by winning the Karl Lagerfeld Prize at the LVMH Awards in 2024. These accolades not only confirm his design credibility but position him as a generational talent capable of bridging commercial appeal with avant-garde artistry. His sustainability-forward ethos, often realized through reworking luxury surplus materials, resonates deeply with Gen Z and millennial consumers craving authenticity and innovation in equal measure.
Come September, all eyes will be on Lantink as he unveils his first ready-to-wear collection for Jean Paul Gaultier. Not only is this a major moment for the designer, but it’s also the brand’s first step back into the ready-to-wear space in a decade. Expectations are sky-high, and the anticipation is palpable. Whatever he presents, one thing is certain: the Gaultier runway will no longer be a rotating door, it’s now a throne room, and Duran Lantink is sitting confidently in the seat of power.
This is more than a new chapter; it’s a resurrection. With Gaultier’s blessing, Lantink’s vision, and the global fashion world watching, Jean Paul Gaultier is poised to once again become the epicenter of bold, subversive style.
Let the new era begin.
