See You Later, Raf

Raf Simons announces he's stepping down from Christian Dior, fills the fashion crowd with tears.

There are few things that can surprise me these days. I'm a child of the Internet, raised on an era of skepticism and living through a time when a celebrity real estate agent is seriously running for president. I'm not one who's easily shocked.

And yet, today my mouth dropped in shock. That's because Raf Simons announced he was stepping down as head designer for Christian Dior.

The news comes only three years after Simons first joined the Dior team. Before that, he had turned Jil Sander into one of the coolest brands around, and during his time at Dior he raised profits and truly brought Christian Dior into the twenty-first century. His last collection was fresh and modern, with scalloped crop sweaters, sheer gingham dresses, and trendy choker necklaces. Simons was praised for his ability to make simplicity just as beautiful as the over-the-top dramatics of predecessor John Galliano, and he was getting into the swing of things with spectacular results. 

The finale at the Christian Dior Spring 2016 show, via style.com

Alexander Wang's departure from Balenciaga was something we saw coming; from the beginning, the appointment seemed off, so the news of Wang leaving Balenciaga wasn't all that surprising. But for Raf, the news of him coming to Christian Dior was exciting and intriguing, and he ended up really excelling at Dior. 

It remains to be seen what Raf's next step will be, or who will fill his shoes as the new head designer at Christian Dior, but I hope he knows that we're all sad to see him go.

For more information, Cathy Horyn wrote a lovely article for The Cut.

What do you think about Raf leaving Dior? Who do you want to see as the next head designer?