Are the new creative directors interested in sustainability?
A retrospective on whether and how the new creative directors are addressing sustainability – from small independent brands to major fashion houses, spanning from Duran Lantink to Balenciaga.
The new creative directors debuting at the upcoming fashion week: are they interested in sustainability?
We all know this well. Matthieu Blazy, fresh out of Bottega Veneta, and his first collection for Chanel. Earlier this year, Louise Trotter stepped into Bottega Veneta following Blazy’s exit. Over at Givenchy, Sarah Burton, fresh from her long time at Alexander McQueen, took over the French house back in September 2024. The same time period saw John Galliano’s departure from Maison Margiela. Glenn Martens inherited Galliano’s role, after redefining Y/Project and keeping on shaping Diesel’s review.
The point of all of this is one only: the true measure of the ‘new era’ will depend on whether these shifts translate into verifiable changes in materials, processes and systemic responsibility across the industry.
Duran Lantink at Jean Paul Gaultier: New permanence in the brand’s creative direction
Earlier this year, Jean Paul Gaultier named Duran Lantink as creative director—a move towards stability after operating under a rotating guest-designer model since Gaultier’s retirement from ready-to-wear in 2015 and couture in 2020. Yes, Lantink stepped in with an experience that fused an avant-garde vision. Growing up in the Hague, Netherlands, his early art-focused education set the stage for a career driven by bold concepts. He studied fashion at the Amsterdam Fashion Institute before expanding his avant-garde vision at Gerrit Rietveld Academie and the Sandberg Instituut, graduating with a master’s degree in 2017.
His breakout moment came in 2018—that’s when Janelle Monáe wore his infamous ‘vagina’ trousers in the PYNK music video. It cemented his reputation for playful, socially conscious design. Lantink launched his own Amsterdam-based label in 2019, but the pandemic postponed the first show—it took place at Paris Fashion Week in March 2023. Same year, he won the Andam Special Prize. The following year, Lantink was awarded LVMH’s 2024 Karl Lagerfeld Special Jury Prize.
Often built from upcycled or repurposed garments, Lantink’s designs challenged norms of luxury fashion—a merge of sustainability with sculptural, wearable art. From the very beginning, the Dutch designer’s label used excess stock—unsold garments, deadstock fabrics, pre-loved pieces from bigger houses. These became materials for hybrid or collaged garments. 2020 saw the Ellery x Duran Lantink collaboration, built entirely using archival Ellery pieces—around 150 pieces. No new fabrics used.
The designer has also worked with Browns on capsules constructed from unsold luxury inventory sitting in storage. He has introduced a customer alteration service: buyers can return garments for reworking into something new, extending each piece’s life cycle. In his own collections, he has experimented with 95% upcycled fabrics—vintage lace, recycled nylon, lycra, denim, supplemented only by small amounts of new, hand-knitted wool. His International Woolmark Prize 2025 collection drew from recycled military sweaters and traditional Dutch knitting techniques, showing how heritage craft could merge with circular design.
Lantink’s approach is systemic: reusing unsold stock from retailers, collaborating with brands to reimagine archives, offering consumer-level garment transformations. His appointment at Jean Paul Gaultier signals permanence after years of rotating creative direction and a decisive step into an environmentally conscious design code.
Are the new creative directors interested in sustainability? Louise Trotter joins Bottega Veneta
Creativity is a keyword in Trotter’s life—growing up with a seamstress grandmother immersed her in it. Louise Trotter’s practical design is a logical successor to Blazy’s vision. She rose to the fashion ranks after graduating from Newcastle Polytechnic—she studied fashion and marketing there. Since then, one after another, she landed positions at Whistles, Calvin Klein, Gap, Tommy Hilfiger. Creative director at Joseph from 2009 to 2018, Trotter shifted the British label’s identity through her functional and minimalistic designs. The Fall/Winter 2015 collection offered monochromatic silhouettes, clean-lined wool coats, camel skirts, the nineties-inspired functionality.
Louise Trotter before Bottega Veneta: Ethical initiatives in Lacoste and Carven
The true momentum for Trotter was her role in Lacoste—in 2018, she became the first female creative director of the heritage sports brand. Her five-year tenure brought modernity and inclusion to Lacoste. Primarily a sportswear/polo brand, it gained a ready-to-wear identity. Gender-fluid silhouettes, diverse casting choices broke the shells of the brand’s sporty elitism. Blending technical sportswear with tailored pieces, artistic and cultural crossovers shifted the brand’s identity. The first Fall/Winter 2019 collection was about redefining the brand’s classics. Polo shirts with stripe knit collars, blazers and trenches in flannel and nylon, cable-knit tennis sweaters now oversize.
Is Louise Trotter building a sustainable fashion legacy through upcycling and timeless design?
At Carven, a dormant French house, she implemented a focus on wearable, functional clothing. Her collections featured minimalist tailoring, modular coats and separates designed for layering. She used neutral color palettes and restrained silhouettes intended for reuse across multiple seasons. The line followed a pared-down approach, contrasting with the spectacle-driven trends dominating Paris runways. Trotter’s presence has proven to bring a shift in a brand’s identity. A move towards versatility, relevance, pragmatism—aesthetically and ideologically.
In 2020, Louise Trotter launched CrocCouture, an upcycling capsule for Lacoste. The project transformed archive garments, unsold stock and surplus fabrics into one-off pieces. Each design combined elements from multiple sources—vintage polos, surplus knitwear, embroidered crocodiles—reassembled into reconstructed shirts, dresses and outerwear. It was positioned within Lacoste’s exploration of circularity, a move toward experimental reuse of the brand’s own material waste.
During her tenure, Carven focused on the narrative of longevity and investing in durable pieces. Neutral color palettes were maintained to allow garments from different collections to be combined. Smaller production runs were implemented to limit unsold stock. Carven did not publicly report use of recycled or upcycled fabrics, supply chain environmental standards, take-back or circular programs or metrics on carbon, water and energy reduction.
Are the new creative directors interested in sustainability? Demna Gvasalia: the debut at Gucci
Demna Gvasalia before Gucci: Vintage reworks at Vetements, material innovations at Balenciaga
Demna’s creative identity contradicts Trotter’s. Where Trotter builds and polishes to glazed perfection, Demna deconstructs, destroys and reassembles in unexpected ways. Born in Georgia, he experienced displacements across Abkhazia, Russia, Ukraine then Germany during the civil war. He later studied international economics at Tbilisi State University. This was before pivoting to fashion—he graduated from Antwerp’s Royal Academy of Fine Arts in 2006. Demna Gvasalia entered the industry through the most traditional corridors: design teams at Maison Martin Margiela and Louis Vuitton under Marc Jacobs and Nicolas Ghesquière. This gave him the discipline of conceptual, deconstructionist design and the sharp commercial instincts of luxury conglomerates.
The breakthrough was with Vetements, his own label launched together with his brother Guram in 2014. Oversized hoodies, ironic re-contextualizations of streetwear and collaborations with mass brands blurred the line between high and low fashion. The brand was received well since the beginning. The brothers were nominated for LVMH’s Young Designer Prize. All this propelled him to Balenciaga in 2015. Here, his runways became socio-political stages. Under Demna, despite—or along with—the controversies, Balenciaga mirrored the cultural mood: absurd, apocalyptic, hyper-real.
Sustainability experiments at Balenciaga: From mycelium leather to Bananatex sneakers
Ethical responsibility have followed a similar duality. His work has introduced tangible steps: the use of certified organic cotton, recycled polyester, upcycled leather, alongside plant-based leather alternatives. Vetements focused on upcycling, vintage reworking and sustainability-centered collaborations. The vintage highlight was the Fall 2015 show where he put reworked vintage Levi’s on the catwalk along with deconstructed and reconstructed t-shirts.
Later at Balenciaga, the Spring/Summer 2021 collection used 93.5% of plain materials that were certified upcycled, with 100% of print bases carrying sustainable certifications. In 2022, under Demna, Balenciaga released a coat made from Ephea, a bio-based material derived from mycelium, providing a non-toxic, leather-alternative option. This was followed by the introduction of sneakers constructed from Bananatex. A fabric made from Abaka banana plant fibers, it is breathable, waterproof, antibacterial and biodegradable.
Are the new creative directors interested in sustainability? The debut of Pierpaolo Piccioli at Balenciaga
Pierpaolo Piccioli’s move from Valentino all the way to Balenciaga
Pierpaolo Piccioli succeeds Demna in Balenciaga’s creative direction— the news raised eyebrows earlier in 2025. A connoisseur of radical elegance and feminine silhouettes, he now faces a challenge in a house defined by Demna’s conceptual, disruptive legacy.
Born and raised in Nettuno, Italy, Piccioli started at Fendi’s accessories department back in 1990. During this time, he closely collaborated with Maria Grazia Chiuri. He then rose through Valentino’s ateliers, becoming co-creative director in 2008 and sole creative director in 2016. Poetic maximalism, refined tailoring, inclusivity became his signatures. Under Piccioli’s leadership, Valentino became a red carpet regular. His creative direction was welcomed well, leading him to winning ‘Designer of the Year’ at The Fashion Awards in both 2018 and 2022.
Ethical practice at Valentino under Piccioli was not left to abstraction. It was more grounded in visible action. Piccioli oversaw the rollout of fully redesigned packaging using recycled paper, cotton, bamboo fibers. They launched the Sleeping Stock initiative, which redirected over 22,000 meters of dormant haute couture fabrics into resale and training projects. The brand advanced traceability, with more than 70% of key raw materials tracked across the supply chain. Valentino’s sustainability reports, supplier summits and inclusivity certifications further tied his creative leadership to measurable progress.
Are the new creative directors interested in sustainability? The debut of Matthieu Blazy at Chanel
From internships at Balenciaga under Nicolas Ghesquière and with John Galliano to joining Raf Simons’s menswear team, Matthieu Blazy’s career began rooted in craftsmanship and couture discipline. He then became the design director at Maison Margiella Artisanal—a space where he honed his ability to merge technical excellence with conceptual vision. At Céline under Phoebe Philo, then at Calvin Klein under Raf Simons, his next roles developed his sharp minimalism and the vision of blending American codes with European precision. But the turning point was Bottega Veneta.
Matthieu Blazy joins Chanel: Material focus and design continuity
At Bottega, Blazy introduced a sculptural approach to leather, making it pliable, playful, unexpectedly modern. His trompe-l’œil denim and cotton pieces, crafted entirely from leather, turned craft into both a technical feat and a cultural statement. Stripping away logos, pushing Bottega into a space of material innovation beyond aesthetics, Blazy underscored durability. Pieces designed to last, with artisanal techniques repositioned for contemporary wardrobes.
Extending product lifecycles: Sleeping Stock, archival re-releases and repair programs
Blazy’s relationship with material, specifically leather, proved to be innovative for Bottega—creatively. As for the direct tangible results, his approach to leather, beyond trompe-l’œil illusions, emphasized durability and respect for the material. Supple skins treated to mimic everyday fabrics were meant to be worn and re-worn, not cycled out in a season. Under his direction, Bottega initiated its Sleeping Stock project, repurposing dormant textiles. The brand registered growing use of recycled fibers during the same period. In 2022, the brand announced the Bottega Series archival re-release, selling past designs at full price to extend product lifecycles and avoid discount waste. The house began work on a lifetime warranty programme to guarantee repairs and keep products in use longer.
Blazy’s collections expanded the use of material manipulation of leather, developing leather that mimics flannel, denim, or knit, and even leather thread for socks. It showed experiments with one primary material rather than diversifying into lower-impact textile alternatives. In 2024, the launch of the fragrance line incorporated packaging made with Verde Saint Denis marble, wooden caps and eco-labeled, reusable boxes.
Are the new creative directors interested in sustainability? The debut of Jonathan Anderson at Dior Women
Jonathan Anderson’s appointment at Dior was sudden and intriguing for the industry. His past roles, shaping Loewe with irreverent minimalism, upcycling, artisanal experimentation, could have clashed with a house steeped in heritage and couture tradition. Yet, his first collection proved otherwise: a careful negotiation between legacy and modernity, between craftsmanship and conceptual play. It signaled that Anderson is here to subtly, profoundly recalibrate Dior.
Jonathan Anderson at Dior: Craft, materials and early ethical initiatives
After graduating from London College of Fashion, the Irish designer launched JW Anderson back in 2008. The label was a challenge for the industry standards with Anderson’s multidimensional approach to clothmaking. Men’s silken tunics trimmed in lace, gender-fluid pieces, layered silhouettes—his early collections felt like a quiet rebellion against traditional menswear codes. From 2013, Loewe became his laboratory of experimentation, drawing strong reactions from the public. It was then followed by an embrace. From reimagining the Puzzle and Flamenco bags to rejecting the polished finishes, he pushed the narrative of the ‘materials that remember the hand.’ His presence at Loewe was, in fact, a new era for the brand.
At JW Anderson, the focus on ethical responsibility has been conceptual: collections occasionally highlight upcycling or playful reuse of materials. There’s little evidence of a structured environmental program or traceability work.
From surplus experiments at Loewe to Dior’s broader sustainability framework
At Loewe, the results are more concrete. The Fall/Winter 2020 collection, named Eye/LOEWE/Nature, relied heavily on repurposed and surplus materials: recycled polyester, organic cotton, deadstock fabrics, old military tents and quilts. It was followed by the 2021 Surplus Project—the brand turned leftover scraps into woven bags to cut down waste from production. Anderson invested in traceability and artisan support as well, with the Craft Prize indirectly encouraging slower, craft-based production. Some collections experimented with living plants and biodegradable treatments. The Spring Summer 2023 menswear show was a blend of nature and technology. The collection, designed with bio-designer Paula Ulargui Escalona, features hoodies, jeans and shoes with cats wort and chia cultivated on them. More conceptual, the idea was that the pieces eventually merge with nature.
In 2022 at Milan’s Salone del Mobile, Loewe led, by Anderson, presented the Weave, Restore, Renew project, an installation centered on repair and reuse. The project included 240 damaged Spanish baskets restored with leather cord, alongside new works in coroza straw from the Philippines and Korean paper-weaving jiseung. It functioned as a material case study in restoration, highlighting traditional techniques applied to existing objects. It framed restoration as part of design practice, embedding circularity into the cultural discourse of a fashion house.
At Dior, the stage is bigger, the expectations are sharper. The house has already invested in regenerative cotton sourcing, circularity research, decarbonization targets under LVMH. Anderson now inherits this framework. The question is whether he will stay with one-off experiments in surplus use and upcycling, or if he will embed those instincts into Dior’s broader supply chain and scale.
Are the new creative directors interested in sustainability? The debut of Lazaro Hernandez & Jack McCollough
After Anderson’s departure, the Spanish brand announced Lazaro Hernandez & Jack McCollough as new creative directors—a strategic shift. While Loewe thrived under Jonathan Anderson’s craft-heavy surrealism, the duo behind Proenza Schouler’s urban sensibility is now expected to streamline Loewe into a more pragmatic, less experimental model.
Lazaro Hernandez & Jack McCollough take over the creative direction of Loewe
The Parsons graduates launched Proenza Schouler back in 2002. For over two decades, they merged intellectual design with commercial wearability—leather satchels, structured dresses, ready-to-wear that consistently delivered retail impact. They introduced recycled fabrics, responsibly sourced wools and certified leathers, often framed as incremental progress rather than systemic change. The collections leaned on durability and timelessness, but supply chain transparency was minimal.
In 2021, Proenza Schouler introduced the Core Collection, a seasonless line centered on sustainable fabrics and wardrobe staples. The debut included T-shirts, knitwear and tailoring made from eco cashmere, eco superfine merino, eco cotton, upcycled wool and deadstock materials from prior archives. Fabrics first used in the Spring 2018 collection were included. Upcycled wool culottes, blazers and carrot pants followed as part of the pre-spring 2021 assortment. The collaborations with eco-conscious projects hinted at awareness, but never formed a core brand identity.
Veronica Leoni & Calvin Klein: The revival of the brand’s Collection line
An appointment that was announced back in May 2024—the wave of changes was just starting then—Veronica Leoni joined Calvin Klein after years since Raf Simons left the label. Her arrival marked the Collection line’s return to the runway after a six-year hiatus, signaling a renewed focus on design continuity and brand identity.
Born in Rome in 1984, Leoni studied philosophy and fashion theory at Sapienza University—this was before entering the fashion industry. She gained early experience at Jil Sander, where she worked within the house’s minimalist framework. Later, she contributed to Céline under Phoebe Philo, Moncler, and The Row, where she developed her understanding of tailoring, structure, craftsmanship. During this time, she launched Quira—Leoni’s independent label, named after her grandmother. The brand gained recognition as a semi-finalist in the 2023 LVMH Prize, emphasizing sculptural forms, individuality, and careful attention to materiality.
Her first collection for Fall/Winter 2025 was presented at New York Fashion Week in February 2025. The collection included tailored outerwear, sculpted dresses, and neutral color palettes. Elements from the brand’s underwear line were incorporated into outerwear and knitwear. The designs followed the brand’s minimalist framework with structured silhouettes and functional construction.
Documented sustainability actions under Leoni’s leadership are limited. There is no public record of systematic use of recycled or low-impact fabrics, upcycling initiatives, or circular programs such as repair or resale. The sustainability-relevant aspect of her work is the focus on longevity through archival continuity, structured tailoring, and neutral palettes, which can reduce the need for seasonal replacement and encourage longer use of garments.
Simone Bellotti joins Jil Sander: Continuity in the brand’s creative precision
In March 2025, Jil Sander named Simone Bellotti its new creative director. It followed the earlier departure of Lucie and Luke Meier after nearly a decade at the helm—a signal of continuity for the house. Bellotti inherited clarity and precision—codes he is fluent in. Born in Lombardy in 1978, Bellotti studied fashion design at Milan’s Istituto Secoli before moving into Antwerp’s creative circles. His early career began with stints at A.F. Vandervorst, Gianfranco Ferré, Dolce & Gabbana. Bottega Veneta was his next stop, and from there Bellotti went to Gucci. After sixteen years of navigating two distinct eras of the brand—Frida Giannini’s sleek luxury and Alessandro Michele’s maximalist reinvention—the Italian designer then joined Bally back in 2023.
At Bally, Bellotti relied heavily on the house’s archives. He reintroduced and reinterpreted designs dating back as early as 1923, including the brand’s signature Ballyrina shoe. His collections emphasized heritage silhouettes, restrained tailoring, leather craftsmanship. This archival approach positioned products as long-term staples rather than seasonal novelties.
Documented sustainability actions during his tenure remain limited. There is no public record of systematic use of recycled or low-impact fabrics, upcycling initiatives, circular programs such as repair or resale. Environmental reporting metrics were not tied to Bellotti’s collections. The tangible sustainability dimension was the reliance on archives. Reviving past designs reduced the need for entirely new product development. It promoted longevity and durability through styles conceived to last beyond a single season.
