Ludovic de Saint Sernin Exits Ann Demeulemeester

Ludovic de Saint Sernin is stepping down from his function as inventive director of Ann Demeulemeester after a single season, BoF has discovered.

In March, the designer introduced new power to the Belgian label’s turnaround efforts with a debut present that combined items from its archive with punchier manufacturing and skin-baring styling.

Momentum continued this spring as influential stockists like MyTheresa renewed their engagement and a key look from the present was worn by Hunter Schafer for Vainness Honest’s Oscar social gathering, giving the relaunch visibility past the style week set.

However based on sources with direct information of the matter, variations arose between Ann Demeulemeester’s administration and De Saint Sernin, a 32-year outdated who has used sensual, gender-fluid designs and social-media savvy storytelling to raise his personal model.

Ann Demeulemeester, identified for its poetic reveals and bohemian-goth aesthetic, relocated from Belgium to Italy after being acquired in 2020 by New Guards Group co-founder Claudio Antonioli. Its management face the problem of reviving a label that has restricted consciousness amongst younger shoppers, and whose historic shopper base is extra loyal to Demeulemeester, the label’s founder, than her namesake model.

Plans for the label’s subsequent steps will not be identified. The model’s small scale and dependence on dear ready-to-wear is one other key problem: a relaunch is bound to require a heavy monetary elevate, and the potential upside of investing in buzzy inventive expertise is unclear.

Each De Saint Sernin and Antonioli declined to remark.