Why Julian Klausner is the perfect appointment for Dries Van Noten

After a tearful farewell show and a SS25 collection created and presented without a creative director, the time for replacement has come at Dries Van Noten. It is Julian Klausner, the Belgian compatriot of the brand’s founder, who will take over. An unexpected yet entirely logical decision, considering the young designer, who has worked alongside Van Noten for no less than six years, and his fashion history. Klausner is not the only designer to have earned the position of creative director in a fashion house after proving he deserved the title. Whether it’s Matthieu Blazy at Bottega, Stefano Gallici at Ann Demeulemeester, or Anthony Vaccarello at Saint Laurent, brands seem to value the guarantee that their new leader knows their code and will honor their heritage. Even though the great Van Noten himself has said his final goodbyes and decided to leave his eponymous brand without drama and without influencing the choice of his future successor, it seems he has highly approved of this new appointment. Here’s why appointing Julian Klausner as the creative director of Dries Van Noten is a wise and sensible choice.

Although not much is known about Julian Klausner and his artistic style, we know that he started his fashion journey at la Cambre, a prestigious Brussels fashion school, followed by an intern at Thom Browne. After graduating, he joined the Maison Margiela team as a junior stylist. In 2018, he became a womenswear designer at Dries Van Noten, where he worked alongside the great Dries for six years, learning the art of mixing patterns and materials to achieve a cohesive result. Indeed, the talent to blend things that seem completely unrelated into a perfectly balanced couture cocktail is not given to everyone, and it’s likely that to master Dries Van Noten’s style, one must have studied under Dries Van Noten. This theory was confirmed by the SS25 collection, created by the members of the atelier who are familiar with the brand and its codes, where the fundamental romanticism, vivid colors, prints, and imaginative exoticism with unexpected associations remained intact even after the departure of the man who once invented them. This need for loyalty was recently confirmed by Van Noten, who stated that Klausner’s deep knowledge of the brand and its values will « ensure a smooth transition and a bright future. »

He also revealed to the New York Times last June that he would not participate in the final decision regarding his replacement, although he was a bit nervous about the choice. « It would be a shame if someone came in and said, 'We’re going to do something completely different. We’re going to do something completely different and keep your name.' I think that would make me sick, » he had said at the time. But no need to worry, the designer’s stomach will stay intact, as the likelihood that Klausner will do anything radically different in a house he’s been part of since 2018 is very low. Klausner’s first menswear collection will be revealed as a lookbook during the men’s fashion show next January, exactly one year after the announcement of his predecessor’s retirement. While it is sometimes said that you don’t just need to turn the page to move forward, but rather rip it out, the page of the great Dries Van Noten book is about to be delicately turned, giving way to an entirely new chapter that promises to continue the story with the utmost respect for its previous narrative.