Kris Van Assche (born 12 May 1976) is a Belgian

fashion designer Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context, of clothing, footwear, lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body posture. The term implies a look defined by the fashion in ...

. He was the creative director of

Berluti Berluti is a prestigious leather maker that manufactures menswear, especially the leather finishing of calfskin, kangaroo leather and alligator skin in its production of shoes and boots. It makes leather belts, bags, and wallets, as well as b ...

(2018-2021), a luxury leather brand owned by

LVMH LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton (), commonly known as LVMH, is a French holding multinational corporation and conglomerate specializing in luxury goods, headquartered in Paris. The company was formed in 1987 through the merger of fashion house ...

, and artistic director for Dior Homme from 2007 to 2018.

Early life and education

Van Assche grew up an only child in Belgium’s Flemish-speaking region of

Londerzeel Londerzeel () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Flemish Brabant. The municipality comprises the towns of Londerzeel proper, Malderen, Steenhuffel (home of Palm Breweries) and Sint-Jozef. On 1 January 2006, Londerzeel had a to ...

, between Antwerp and Brussels. He studied women’s wear at the

Antwerp Royal Academy of Fine Arts The Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp ( nl, Koninklijke Academie voor Schone Kunsten van Antwerpen) is an art academy located in Antwerp, Belgium. It is one of the oldest of its kind in Europe. It was founded in 1663 by David Teniers the Younger, ...

, in

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

from 1994 to 1998.

Career

Early career

After graduating Van Assche moved to Paris in 1998. He was immediately appointed at Yves Saint Laurent as

Hedi Slimane Hedi Slimane (; born July 5, 1968) is a French photographer and grand couturier. From 2000 to 2007, he held the position of creative director for Dior Homme (the menswear line of Christian Dior S.A., Christian Dior). From 2012 to 2016, he was the ...

's first assistant for the Rive Gauche Homme line. The collaboration with Slimane continued at

Christian Dior Christian Ernest Dior (; 21 January 1905 – 24 October 1957) was a French fashion designer, best known as the founder of one of the world's top fashion houses, Christian Dior SE, which is now owned by parent company LVMH. His fashion houses a ...

for the launching and development of the Dior Homme collection until September 2004. In January 2005, Van Assche finally presented his own men's collection for the first time in Paris during Men's Fashion Week.

KRISVANASSCHE, 2005–2015

In addition to his work at Dior, Van Assche founded his own label in 2005. In June 2013, he opened the first KRISVANASSCHE boutique in Paris. Designed by Ciguë, it was located in the 1st arrondissement, at 16 rue Saint Roch. In 2012 and 2013, KRISVANASSCHE teamed up with American denim brand Lee to produce two capsule collections. In late May 2015, after several years of collections often judged as irrelevant by the critics and a style outdated by the new Londoner designers (such as

JW Anderson JW Anderson is a British fashion label, founded by Jonathan Anderson. Anderson lived in Northern Ireland during his youth before establishing JW Anderson in 2008 and subsequently launched his fashion house in London. The brand initially focused o ...

Christopher Shannon Christopher Shannon is an English fashion designer specialising in menswear. Early life and education A Liverpudlian, Shannon graduated from Central Saint Martins with an MA in Menswear, studying under Louise Wilson. Career After working wit ...

), Van Assche announced that he was closing his personal label for the time being, due to the difficulties of being an independent label.

Dior Homme, 2007–2018

Van Assche subsequently served as the artistic director for

Dior Homme Dior Homme is the menswear division of Christian Dior SA, the French clothing retailer. Dior Men has been under the creative direction of Kim Jones since spring/summer 2019. It had been directed by Hedi Slimane since the fall/winter 2001-02 seaso ...

from April 2007 to March 2018.

Berluti, 2018–2021

In April 2018, Van Assche was confirmed as the new creative director at luxury brand

, another LVMH company, following the departure of

Haider Ackermann Haider Ackermann (born 29 March 1971) is a Colombian-born French designer of ready-to-wear fashion. He lives in Paris. Early life Born in Bogotá, Colombia in 1971, Ackermann was adopted at the age of nine months by a French Alsatian family. ...

. His debut Berluti collection was released January 2019. For the 2019

Design Miami Design Miami/ is an American design company that holds two annual flagship collectible design fairs in Miami, Florida and Basel, Switzerland. Design Miami/ also holds fairs in Paris and Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Chinese, Standard M ...

fair, Van Assche joined forces with art dealer François Laffanour to present a collection of 17 original

Pierre Jeanneret Pierre Jeanneret (22 March 1896 – 4 December 1967) was a Swiss architect who collaborated with his cousin, Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (who assumed the pseudonym Le Corbusier), for about twenty years. Early life Arnold-André-Pierre Jea ...

furniture pieces, restored by Laffanour and upholstered with Berluti’s emblematic Venezia leather. On 21 April 2021, Kris Van Assche announced on his Instagram that his departure from the brand as its artistic director. He also said that during 3 years time in

had been extremely intense especially in

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

period. In 2021, Van Assche became Mentor of the Master in Creative Direction at

Polimoda Ente per le Arti applicate alla Moda e al Costume abbreviated as Polimoda is a private fashion school in Florence, capital of Tuscany, Italy. The school was originally founded by Shirley Goodman, the former Executive Vice President Emeritus at F ...

fashion school in Florence, Italy.

Style

Van Assche's style icons are

Jean Cocteau Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau (, , ; 5 July 1889 – 11 October 1963) was a French poet, playwright, novelist, designer, filmmaker, visual artist and critic. He was one of the foremost creatives of the su ...

, for his classic coats and eccentric manner;

Pina Bausch Philippine "Pina" Bausch (27 July 1940 – 30 June 2009) was a German dancer and choreographer who was a significant contributor to a neo-expressionist dance tradition now known as . Bausch's approach was noted for a stylized blend of dance mov ...

, who wore boots for dancing; and

Sean Penn Sean Justin Penn (born August 17, 1960) is an American actor and film director. He has won two Academy Awards, for his roles in the mystery drama ''Mystic River'' (2003) and the biopic ''Milk'' (2008). Penn began his acting career in televisi ...

and

Johnny Depp John Christopher Depp II (born June 9, 1963) is an American actor and musician. He is the recipient of multiple accolades, including a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award, in addition to nominations for three Academy Award ...

Personal life

Van Assche lives in Paris and has two Siam cats, named Frida ( born: 2013) and Diego after

Frida Kahlo Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderón (; 6 July 1907 – 13 July 1954) was a Mexican painter known for her many portraits, self-portraits, and works inspired by the nature and artifacts of Mexico. Inspired by the country's popular culture, ...

and

Diego Rivera Diego María de la Concepción Juan Nepomuceno Estanislao de la Rivera y Barrientos Acosta y Rodríguez, known as Diego Rivera (; December 8, 1886 – November 24, 1957), was a prominent Mexican painter. His large frescoes helped establish the ...

. He speaks fluent French, Dutch and English.

References

External links

Kris Van Assche
Official website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Van Assche, Kris 1976 births Living people Belgian fashion designers LGBT fashion designers High fashion brands Royal Academy of Fine Arts (Antwerp) alumni Dior people