So Who Is Anthony Vaccarello?

With the official announcement of Hedi’s departure and Vaccarello’s takeover at Saint Laurent, we’ve been getting a ton of inquiries simply asking, “Who is this guy?” Unfortunately, he doesn’t yet have a Wikipedia page highlighting his upbringing and career accolades, but don’t fret, here’s what you should know about the 36-year-old designer:

• Born in Belgium to Italian parents.
• Graduated from Brussels’ renowned architecture and visual arts school La Cambre in 1996.
• Won the top fashion prize at France’s annual International Festival of Fashion and Photography in 1996.
• Worked on furs at Fendi for two years.
• Held his first eponymous runway show in September 2010 for the Spring 2011 season, and has continued to show his namesake label at PFW.
• Won France’s ANDAM (Association Nationale pour le Développement des Arts de la Mode) award, for up-and-coming designers in 2011.
• Gwyneth Paltrow donned a Vaccarello dress on the cover of Harper’s Bazaar March 2012 issue, shot by Terry Richardson.
• Created a capsule collection in 2014 for Donatella Versace’s Versus line and soon after was appointed the brand’s creative director, following the likes of Christopher Kane and J.W. Anderson.
• Versus marked his first foray into menswear.
• Doubled Versus’s retail sales between 2014 and 2015.
• Recognized for his asymmetrical designs, jumpsuit-hybrid dresses with long, revealing slits, and an affinity for leather.
• Rihanna, Jennifer Lopez, Karlie Kloss, Anja Rubik and Gisele Bundchen are among the many women who have graced the red carpet in his designs.

Vaccarello has his work cut out for him, as he’ll be taking over one of the more commercially successful houses of the new decade. Which leaves us wondering, how do you think he’ll fare as the new creative director for Saint Laurent?

Anthony will show his first collection this October for the 2017 spring/summer season.