Pieter Mulier, creative director of Maison Alaïa, is joining Versace, succeeding Dario Vitale. The appointment is effective July 1 and Mulier will report to Versace’s executive chairman Lorenzo Bertelli.

WWD first wrote that Mulier was a contender on Dec. 4, breaking the news that Vitale was exiting Versace.

Last Friday, Alaïa said that Mulier would conclude his tenure as creative director after the brand’s fall 2026 show during Paris Fashion Week in March.

“We are very happy, this is a decision made a long time ago, I remember we were brainstorming [about a creative direction] as far back as autumn 2024,” Versace’s executive chairman Lorenzo Bertelli told WWD exclusively. “We had started to really focus on potentially investing in Versace even during the pandemic.”

He said that, while the group was considering the acquisition of Versace, Mulier was “identified as the right person for the role of designer of the brand. We are confident he will fully express Versace’s potential and create a profound dialogue with the history and the distinctive aesthetics of the brand; we are enthusiastic about starting this journey together.”

Bertelli believes “Versace’s identity is distinctive and clear, there is no need to reinvent it, and Pieter will know how to reinterpret the brand.”

He waved off persistent speculation about a potential exit of Versace’s CEO Emmanuel Gintzburger. “We are working very well with him.”

Bertelli also praised previous owner Capri Holdings for protecting the brand, and focusing on the signature line. In time, Versace will leverage production and distribution synergies with the Prada Group, but the brand will remain separate. Bertelli will continue to also hold his role as head of CSR and marketing director of the Prada Group.

At the moment, Versace is not present on the calendar of Milan Women’s Fashion Week taking place later this month.

According to sources, Alaïa is in the early stages of its search for a successor and could reprise its focus on prominent number-two designers that yielded the selection of Mulier, previously a key deputy of designer Raf Simons.

Among marquee designers that could be on Alaïa’s hit list is Julian Dossena, creative director at Rabanne since 2013 and prized for his exacting, glamorous designs.

Before joining Alaïa in February 2021, presenting his first collection for spring 2022, Mulier was perhaps best known for his work as Raf Simons’ right hand at Jil Sander, Christian Dior and Calvin Klein.

After studying design and architecture at the Institut Supérieur d’Architecture Saint-Luc de Bruxelles, the Belgian designer started his fashion career working at the Raf Simons men’s label in Antwerp. He expanded his design sphere into womenswear and accessories alongside Simons when the latter took the creative helm of Jil Sander.

When Simons moved to New York to become chief creative officer of Calvin Klein, Mulier was named creative director and was responsible for executing Simons’ creative and design vision for men’s and women’s ready-to-wear, and the bridge and better apparel lines and accessories.

Simons brought out Mulier for his runway bows. Mulier also managed all men’s and women’s design teams within the Calvin Klein brand, under Simons’ leadership.

The two Belgian designers are still on friendly terms and Mulier is a regular guest at the Prada shows in Milan, where Simons is co-creative director with Miuccia Prada. This link could have triggered the interest of Lorenzo Bertelli.

At Alaïa, Mulier developed a directional and distinctive style for the brand, focusing on craft, quality and timelessness. He has been creating buzz and momentum around the brand with his sculptural volumes and architectural constructions in ready-to-wear and strong accessories, such as the hit bag Le Teckel and the ballerina shoes, attracting a younger and broader audience without losing its loyal customers.

While not breaking down sales by brand, in reporting its first-half results, Alaïa’s parent Compagnie Financière Richemont called it out as a “notable growth driver” among its fashion and leather goods houses, logging double-digit growth in the period. It is understood Alaïa has more than doubled in size since Mulier arrived. Founded in 1964 by Tunisian designer Azzedine Alaïa, the house was acquired by the Swiss group in 2007.

In April last year, the Prada Group revealed the acquisition of Versace from Capri Holdings for an enterprise value of 1.25 billion euros, shortly after Donatella Versace was named chief brand ambassador and left the creative director role after almost three decades at the helm of the brand. She was succeeded by Vitale, who exited Versace on Dec. 12. He was previously ready-to-wear design director at Miu Miu, which he left in January last year.

Market sources said Vitale was aware that the Prada Group was in discussions to acquire Versace since the end of last year, even before he left Miu Miu, and that another designer — allegedly Mulier — was in the wings for Versace and that it was unlikely he would be kept on at the brand.

Sources say Alaïa parent Compagnie Financière Richemont was loath to see Mulier leave as he has been injecting new life into the brand since 2021, but that the Prada Group was set on having him on board to lead the newly acquired brand forward.

Sources say Bertelli does not want to overturn the brand’s image, aiming to return to a style more aligned with that of Gianni and Donatella Versace, and less to that of Vitale. His debut collection in September received positive reviews from retailers for his colorful and audacious designs but left many observers baffled at the same time.

A source said Bertelli has held talks with Donatella Versace and her daughter Allegra, sharing common ground — leading a family company into the future.

Gianni Versace and Azzedine Alaïa were contemporaries, rising to fame in the ‘80s and ‘90s, both empowering the female form, appreciating sensual and sculptural designs, enhanced by the beauty of the supermodels, including Naomi Campbell, who called the latter “Papa” and the former a mentor. Serendipitously, Campbell presented the CFDA’s International Designer of the Year Award to Mulier in November.

With contributions from Miles Socha, Paris.