Six days after his much-discussed departure from Alaïa (Richemont group), Pieter Mulier joins the Prada group. He will be responsible for overseeing design at Versace and restoring the fashion house to its former glory after it was bought for a hefty sum by the Milanese luxury conglomerate on April 10, 2025.
The rumors that had been circulating since December were therefore true…
The Prada Group and Versace announced today the appointment of Pieter Mulier as creative director. He is expected to take up his post on July 1. He will report to Lorenzo Bertelli, heir to the Prada family and executive chairman of Versace.
Having worked with Raf Simons, Jil Sanders, and Dior, among others, the Belgian designer’s mission is to repeat the creative and commercial success he achieved at Alaïa in the space of five years.
After the temple of body-conscious fashion and French haute couture, Pieter Mulier must now tackle the desirability of Versace. An Italian brand, also renowned for playing on the codes of sexiness and femininity—albeit in a more ostentatious way—but one that has seemed dormant in recent years.
Determined to enable the brand to express its full potential, the Prada Group added Versace to its portfolio of brands for €1.25 billion last April. The task now is to turn the purchase into a gem.
A connoisseur of codes
Born in 1976, Pieter Mulier originally intended to become an architect before pursuing a career in fashion.
After serving as the right-hand man to Raf Simons, now co-creative director of Prada since 2020—the showcase of the Italian luxury group to which Versace belongs—the Belgian designer has worked for other brands such as Jil Sander, Dior, and Calvin Klein.
For this designer, who is concerned with the sculptural dimension of clothing, his appointment in 2021 at Alaïa was a natural fit.
Breathing new life into the brand, he has succeeded in transforming a respected but small fashion house into a commercial and media phenomenon. His creative choices, such as perforated ballet flats and the elongated Le Teckel bag, quickly became bestsellers, attracting the attention of celebrities such as Leila Bekhti, Tilda Swinton, Kim Kardashian, Zendaya, and above all, Rihanna.
Pieter Mulier achieved this success while respecting the fashion house’s DNA, which is both sculptural and sexy, without ever crossing the line into vulgarity, as he explained to our colleagues at Le Monde.
Pieter Mulier will present his final collection for Alaïa in March.
A new creative chapter
Another thing that Alaïa and Versace have in common is the lasting influence of the founder (or equivalent) when appointing a “replacement”. The Belgian designer was named as Azzedine Alaïa’s first official successor three years after his death.
Since Gianni Versace’s murder outside his Miami villa in 1997, his sister Donatella Versace had jealously guarded the style of the House of Medusa for 28 years. Since early April 2025, she has held the honorary position of chief ambassador, devoting herself to the House’s philanthropic activities.
However, the memory of the designer, which remains as vivid as ever, probably ended up discouraging Dario Vitale, former director of image and design at Miu Miu, nine months after his appointment last March and one fashion show later.
When Versace was acquired, the CEO of the Prada group, Andrea Guerra, told the Roman daily La Repubblica that he was aiming for €7 billion in sales “in the rather long term,” on the condition of “doing in-depth work on the brand, creativity, positioning, identity, and product appeal.”
However, Versace is still far from reaching its full potential, with sales of only $821 million for the 2024-2025 fiscal year.
In its press release, the Prada group has no doubts about Pieter Mulier’s potential: “We are convinced that he can truly unlock Versace’s full potential and that he will be able to engage in a fruitful dialogue with the house’s powerful heritage,” said Lorenzo Bertelli, executive chairman of Versace and chief marketing officer of the Prada group, in a press release.
Read also > Pieter Mulier leaves Alaïa after five years as creative director
Featured photo: © Karim Sadli/Versace
