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Raf Simons takes over for Galliano at Dior

(Reuters) – Belgian designer Raf Simons is taking over as artistic director at Christian Dior, the Paris fashion

house announced on Monday, ending months of speculation over who would replace his disgraced predecessor, John

Galliano.

Belgian 

designer Raf Simons acknowledges audience applauses at the end of the Jil Sander 2012 Autumn/Winter collection show during 

Milan Fashion Week February 25, 2012. REUTERS/Alessandro Garofalo
Belgian designer Raf Simons

acknowledges audience applauses at the end of the Jil Sander 2012 Autumn/Winter collection show during Milan Fashion Week

February 25, 2012. REUTERS/Alessandro Garofalo

The top

design post at Dior, the parent company of luxury conglomerate LVMH, has been vacant for more than a year after Galliano was

fired after a drunken anti-Semitic outburst in Paris.

Simons, who previously worked for fashion house Jil Sander and

is known for his understated looks, was long considered an unlikely candidate as Dior conducted exploratory talks with more

high-profile rivals ranging from Marc Jacobs, head designer at Louis Vuitton, to Alber Elbaz of Lanvin.

In a

statement, the 44-year-old Belgian paid homage to the history of Dior and said he would present his first Haute Couture

collection for Dior in July 2012.

“It is with the utmost respect for its tremendous history, its unparalleled

knowledge and craftsmanship that I am joining the magnificent house of Dior,” he said.

For the past year, Dior Chief

Executive Sidney Toledano has faced constant questioning about succession for Galliano after his shock ouster from the brand

last year, to which he always responded by saying Dior would take its time.

In the absence of Galliano – who

apologized for his outburst in early 2011 and has yet to resurface in a new position – his former aide Bill Gaytten took over

as Dior’s artistic director and presented several pret-a-porter and Haute Couture collections.

But Gaytten’s work

came under criticism in fashion circles for lacking his predecessor’s flair, and Dior never hid its intention of filling the

top position with a designer of equal or greater stature to Galliano.

Simons developed a strong international

reputation at Jil Sander, which is majority owned by the Prada Group, earning credit for a trend toward bright colors that

permeated more modestly priced markets.

“I’m someone who takes responsibility,” Simons told the New York Times, which

first reported his hiring. “I’m not an isolated person. The more I connect to people, the more I have the feeling that

things work.”

(Reporting by Nicholas Vinocur; Editing by Karolina Tagaris)

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Raf Simons takes over for Galliano at Dior

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