Giles Deacon, nouveau Directeur Artistique de la maison Emanuel Ungaro. avec Jean Paul Gaultier. Après sept ans à la direction artistique du prêt-à-porter féminin, l’enfant terrible de la mode a été remercié pour son « remarquable apport créatif ». Depuis son arrivée chez Hermès en 2004, le couturier s’était évertué à réinventer les codes du sellier grâce à son humour et son style rafraîchissants – confère son relooking des sacs iconiques comme le Birkin ou le Kelly. Son ultime collection pour la célèbre maison du Faubourg Saint- Honoré défilera à Paris en octobre. Mais cette fin de collaboration ne marque pas pour autant une rupture. La société Hermès possède encore 45% du capital de la maison de couture Jean Paul Gaultier. Le créateur va désormais pouvoir se consacrer à sa ligne éponyme. Le nom de son remplaçant chez Hermès ne s’est pas fait attendre. Christophe Lemaire, qui officiait chez Lacoste depuis dix ans, prendra la relève pour la collection automne-hiver 2011- 2012. Recruté par la marque au crocodile en 2000, le créateur français a su imposer son style, tout en conservant les valeurs d’élégance et d’authenticité intrinsèques à Lacoste. Si cette had pulled out all the stops to reinvent firm's codes with his humour and refreshing style. He'd given it a whole new look with iconic bags like the Birkin and the Kelly. We'll discover his final collection for the famous Faubourg Saint-Honoré leather goods store at the Paris show in October. But the end of the collaboration doesn't signal a breakup. Hermès still own 45% of the capital in the Jean Paul Gaultier couture house. He will now be free to devote himself wholeheartedly to his own collections. We didn't have to wait long for Hermès to announce the name of his successor : Christophe Lemaire, who'd been at Lacoste for ten years, will take over for the autumn-winter 2011- 2112 collection. Recruited by the little green crocodile in 2000, Christophe Lemaire had stamped the brand with his style while retaining Lacoste's intrinsic values of elegance and authenticity. His successor hasn't yet been named, but it's clear this will be a turning point in the brand's history. The next artistic director's mission will be to provide "a new stylistic eye" and develop the womenswear side. Emanuel Ungaro : Welcome Giles ! Sometimes collaboration lasts a decade ; sometimes it flops from the start. These last five years fashion house Emanuel Ungaro has been struggling to find the creative director they need. After five creative directors and an unconvincing collaboration with starlet Lindsay Lohan, Emanuel Ungaro may at last have unearthed a treasure. In May they officially appointed British designer Giles Deacon as successor to Spanish designer Estrella Archs. They're counting on him to "re-interpret the rich heritage of Ungaro with a contemporary point of view." Giles Deacon graduated from the prestigious Central Saint Martins school as one of the brightest sparks of his generation and has since gone from strength to strength. NamedBest New Designer at the British Fashion Awards in 2004, he won the ANDAM prize (Association Nationale pour le Développement des Arts de la Mode) in France in 2009. First noticed for his designs for fashion house Bottega Veneta, Giles Deacon launched his own line in 2004 under the Giles label. His is a colourful, fanciful world. His eagerly awaited first collection for Ungaro will be unveiled at the Paris fashion week in October. He seems very excited by the new challenge : "Emanuel Ungaro is one of the best-known luxury fashion houses internationally. Becoming creative director to one of the last independent fashion houses on Avenue Montaigne is absolutely thrilling," he said in a press statement. No doubt about it, Giles Deacon should bring the French fashion house a breath of youthful fresh air. août-septembre 2010 www.cotemagazine.com FASHION PORTRAIT 67