Courrèges’ Nicolas Di Felice named next guest designer at Jean Paul Gaultier

Nicolas Di Felice, the creative director of French luxury label Courrèges, has been announced as the next guest couturier of Jean Paul Gaultier.

As such, Di Felice will oversee the design and preparation for the brand’s upcoming Haute Couture Week collection, which is scheduled to take place in Paris from June 24 to 27, according to WWD.

Speaking to the media outlet, Gaultier said of his decision to select Di Felice: “I find Nicolas to be bold and creative from the beginning of his career.

“Choosing him aligns perfectly with the idea of seeing what a designer can bring to my style.”

The emergence of Gaultier’s guest designer concept followed the designer’s announcement that he would be retiring from the runway in 2020.

Di Felice is to be the seventh designer to take on the Jean Paul Gaultier name, following immediately after Simone Rocha, who presented her take on the heritage brand at the couture week in January.

Others to have taken to the temporary helm have been Balmain’s Olivier Rousteing, Haider Ackermann, Glenn Martens from Y/Project and Sacai’s Chitose Abe.

Ahead of his own show, Di Felice told WWD that he felt “extremely honoured” to have been selected, adding: “I am grateful to get the chance to work with this legendary couture atelier and I cannot wait to dig into the archives.

“Even if I work on some more exceptional pieces for my own show, I mostly try to focus on a certain practicality and wearability at Courrèges, so it’s quite exciting for me to let that go for a bit.”