Rochas appoints 24-year-old Charles de Vilmorin as creative director

Rochas, the almost century-old French house, has just appointed the young French designer Charles de Vilmorin, just 24 years old, as the new creative director of the Maison . Position that will go on to hold immediately occupying the place left empty by the Italian designer Alessandro Dell'Acqua , who decided to leave the French house last December 2019, after 6 years at the head of his creative direction, with the objective of being able to dedicate all their efforts to the development of their own brand, the Italian “Nº21”.

Despite his young age, Vilmorin has managed to arouse great interest in the world of fashion, with rumors that already pointed to his possible signing to sit in front of a Maison like Yves Saint Laurent. Rumorology that the Interparfums Group has finally managed to get ahead of, thereby underpinning the career of a young designer who, despite the difficult times we live in today, was already able to amaze experts and laymen during the last Alta Week Paris Sewing. Celebrations in which he participated as the youngest designer in the history of French Haute Couture to present a collection under such a distinguished umbrella, always reserved for the most meticulous and inspiring works of houses such as the iconic Chanel or Christian Dior.

"It is a great honor for me to join the Maison Rochas as creative director," stated the designer himself in a statement issued by the French company. “Rochas is a brand that holds a very special place in my heart,” he added, “due both to deep family and personal ties and the rich heritage of a brand that I find tremendously inspiring. I can't wait to start adding my personal touch and reinterpreting the codes of this beautiful Maison”.

“Audacity, elegance, timelessness and originality are the foundations of Rochas's legacy”, added Philippe Benacin, president of the firm's parent company, the Société Interparfums group. Those "are also the values that define the work of Charles de Vilmorin, creating a perfect synergy between these two worlds. Charles's youth, talent and wild touch will give Rochas a new life during these next few years," added Benacin, who did not hesitate to confess that he, as well as the rest of the members of the company and the firm, they feel "delighted that Charles can participate in this new era for our brand."

From founding his firm in 2020 to debuting at Haute Couture Week in 2021

In order to achieve such singular success, as is undoubtedly having managed to signify himself as the youngest designer in history to participate in Paris Haute Couture Week, Vilmorin used all his innate talent for the field of fashion. Skills that he knew how to develop well during his studies at the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne, the school from which he graduated last July 2019.

After completing his studies, Vilmorin turned to the development of his eponymous brand, announcing its launch and the presentation of its debut collection at the end of April 2020, in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic and in the middle of the toughest restrictions and confinements decreed on a global scale. A fact that did not prevent newspapers such as Vogue magazine, in its French edition, from dedicating a first article to it in June in its digital edition, to include it as part of the content of its print edition for August.

Thus, that "debut collection received widespread praise and propelled Charles de Vilmorin onto the international fashion scene," they note from Interparfums. “Since then”, they add, “Charles de Vilmorin's instinctive approach and his spontaneous approach to the field of design, together with his attraction to color, have allowed him to create a unique wardrobe in which emotions flow freely”. A shower of sensations that Rochas will now seek to provide to his next collections, with his sights set on his proposal for the next Spring / Summer season of 2022, the first that Vilmorin will develop for Rochas.

This article was originally published on FashionUnited.ES, translated and edited by Kelly Press.

Photo Credit: Charles de Vilmorin, official website