Duran Lantink has had a great year. After staging one of the most anticipated shows at Paris Fashion Week in March, where he won the Woolmark Prize, the Dutch designer has now joined Jean Paul Gaultier. Lantink will take on the role of Creative Director, overseeing both couture and ready-to-wear collections, as the brand completes its successful designer collaborations program.
His first collection will be shown in September, representing the Spring 2026 collection, when he will temporarily put his eponymous brand on hold. Speaking of Lantink’s talent and vision, Gaultier said: “In him I see the energy, audacity and playfulness that I saw at the beginning of my career: the ‘new enfant terrible’ of fashion.”
Lantink’s rise to fame is through his challenging and provocative collections. He often uses upcycled and padded fabrics, transforming them into sculptural, surreal garments that exaggerate form while abstracting function. Lantink won the Karl Lagerfeld Prize at the LVMH Prize in 2024, and he rose to fame in 2018 when Janelle Monáe wore a pair of vagina-shaped pants he designed for her music video, Pynk.
Irony and a heavy (and much-needed) dose of humor reign supreme in Lantink’s world. He injects playfulness and whimsy into a language of fashion that emerged from the era of understated luxury, a language that is slowly dying out. His latest Fall 2025 collection features pieces like animal print flared trousers, cropped, puffy silhouettes, reinterpreted Barbour jackets, and stretchy prosthetic breasts.
Lantink posted the announcement of his appointment on his Instagram this morning, along with a photo of himself, aged 11, in his hometown of Amsterdam, wearing a Jean Paul Gaultier knit hat adorned with yellow horns. In the caption, he mentioned that he was “obsessed” with the hat and never thought he would one day helm the brand that Gaultier founded.
He also said: “I am honored and proud to be entrusted with the important task of permanent creative director of Jean Paul Gaultier. Thank you to everyone who believed in me and my team from the beginning. Your support means a lot to me.” Lantink added: “For me, Gaultier represents the ultimate creative spirit and exquisite craftsmanship. It is challenging and constantly pushing boundaries. It is a brand that brings together different fields of fashion to create cultural movements and change the language of clothing and the way we wear it on the street.”
Gaultier once led the radical trend in the fashion world with cone bras, corsets and sailor stripes. He opened new doors for self-expression and brought his designs to life through dramatic runway shows. In the past few years, the fashion industry has neglected imagination.
In many ways, we are hungry for unique ideas. But this appointment, and several other recent headlines, herald a bright new era for those of us who love clothes, and the opportunity for those who don’t yet to explore new things. Whether it’s breast augmentation or spherical body shape, Lantinck’s rebellious spirit and his new work are a perfect symbol of this era.