Dutch designer Duran Lantink is stepping into the spotlight as Jean Paul Gaultier’s first permanent successor since 2020. With a reputation for bold silhouettes, playful irreverence, and sustainable fashion, he’s being hailed as one of the most exciting voices of his generation.
Could Duran Lantink become fashion’s next great provocateur? The 37-year-old Dutch designer, celebrated for his fearless creativity, unveils his first Jean Paul Gaultier collection this Sunday in Paris. Appointed creative director of the couture house last April, he is the first permanent successor to Jean Paul Gaultier, who retired from designing in 2020.
Since his departure, the 72-year-old French couturier, long known as fashion’s great rebel, had entrusted his couture collections to a series of high-profile guest designers such as Olivier Rousteing of Balmain and Glenn Martens of Maison Margiela.
Though still relatively unknown to the wider public, Lantink has emerged in recent years as a major rising talent. His Paris Fashion Week shows have drawn attention for their inflated, balloon-like silhouettes, daring transparency, sculptural gowns, and playful sense of humor—qualities that echo Gaultier himself. “I see in him the energy, audacity, and sense of fun I had at the beginning of my career,” said Jean Paul Gaultier.
A Magnetic Personality
Beyond his work, Lantink has won admirers with his charisma. “He has something very radiant, accessible, and easygoing,” said Alix Morabito, fashion buying director at Galeries Lafayette.
Sustainability at the Core
Graduating from Amsterdam’s Gerrit Rietveld Academie in 2013 and the Sandberg Instituut in 2017, Lantink first captured attention in 2018 with the now-iconic “vagina pants” worn by Janelle Monáe in her Pynk video. Since then, he has dressed stars like Billie Eilish, Lizzo, and Beyoncé—who wore his dazzling oversized-collar golden trench coat.
In 2019 he launched his eponymous label, but the pandemic forced him to pause. He returned in 2023 with a Paris Fashion Week collection built around sustainable principles, upcycling deadstock fabrics from major luxury houses. “I’ve been cutting up clothes and reusing fabrics since I was young—it’s part of my DNA,” he told AFP in 2023.
That same year, he won the special prize of the prestigious ANDAM association, followed by the Karl Lagerfeld Prize in 2024 and the International Woolmark Prize in April 2025.
Breaking Gender Codes
In March, his Fall/Winter 2025–2026 show went viral by challenging gender norms: one model strutted with a fake muscular male torso, while another male model wore an exaggerated silicone bust. These provocative images made waves across social media, amplifying his reputation as a rule-breaker.
Future in Motion
Elvire von Bardeleben, fashion editor at Le Monde, sees Lantink as “someone with the right ideas at the right time—you can’t help but want to follow him.”
His appointment at Jean Paul Gaultier has generated both excitement and curiosity. “Gaultier, with great insight, has placed his bet on him. But I’m not sure that this is his ultimate destiny. I could see him leading a very, very big house,” said Sophie Fontanel of Le Nouvel Obs.
With AFP
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