The rumors over who would be following in the footsteps of Olivier Theyskens have been bubbling for months. Now, after months of speculation, the replacement for the critically acclaimed Theyskens has been named. Peter Copping will be Nina Ricci’s new artistic director.
Theyskens left in March despite the fact that his contract was not set to expire until October. Grauso has been quoted as saying that he thinks Coppoing is very tuned into the Nina Ricci consumer who is “a very real woman.”
First up for Copping – who started his new position on April 20th – is designing a capsule resort collection which will be sold in Nina Ricci’s flagship store on Avenue Montaigne in Paris. Nina Ricci’s comeback on the runway won’t take place until March 2010.
For his part, Copping says that he thinks the Nina Ricci name is “a name with a very nice history. I love all the French fashionisms, and Nina Ricci is very much a French house. It’s going to feel very close to all the things I personally like. We want to move away from a girl and be more about a woman. I want the clothes to be very tactile, very luxurious – the kind of clothes a woman enjoys wearing.”
As for Olivier Theyskens’ future, many are hoping that the talented young designer will re-launch his namesake label (he owns the rights to his trademark), but there is no evidence pointing to that at the current time. There are also rumors swirling that he may take on a design role at Schiaparelli, the dormant brand owned by Tod’s Diego Della Valle. It’s slated for revival in 2010, though Della Valle has denied conducting a design search for Schiaparelli. Another rumor is that he may take the reigns at Halston.
