After barely three days of speculation, Women’s Wear Daily reports that Lanvin has officially confirmed Bouchra Jarrar as its new artistic director. The couture designer, who worked under Nicolas Ghesquière at Balenciaga and Christian Lacroix, beat out other rumored candidates including Erdem Moralioglu and Simone Rocha.
Known for her minimalist-leaning designs, it’ll be interesting to see what direction she’ll take a brand that was critically panned for its last collection. Will she incorporate her sharply tailored blazers and pants to add cool to a label better known for fanciful dresses? Can she escape the ghost of the much-loved Alber Elbaz? And, not to add to the challenges on her plate, but WWD also reports that her tasks will include reviving Lanvin’s handbag business and helping flagging sales overall.
Also buried in the WWD piece: Menswear designer Lucas Ossendrijver, who was hired by Elbaz, is campaigning for his team to remain creatively autonomous.
Jarrar will debut this fall, in time for spring 2017, but you can click ahead and check out her couture collection.