American fashion label Diane Von Furstenberg has appointed its own alum Nathan Jenden as the new Chief Design Officer and Vice-President Creative close on the heels of Jonathan Saunders’ exit last month.
Jenden previously worked at the company in 2001 under DVF herself and resigned in 2010 to focus on his personal collection. Since then, the designer has created an impressive portfolio and was most recently the Creative Director at Bebe.
In the meanwhile, DVF has seen several Creative Directors apart from Saunders, including Yvan Mispelaere and Michael Herz with very short tenures. Jenden’s hire might bring some much-needed stability to DVF’s business.
Furstenberg, while welcoming Jenden back to the team, said, “He is an extremely talented and a technically skilful designer who also has a great gift for surrounding himself with young, emerging talent. He totally embraces the DVF woman, and the brand enjoyed its greatest commercial success during his tenure.”
In a jam-packed January, Jenden will be working on his designs to showcase his first collection for Fall 2018 in the following month at the New York Fashion Week.
Further, Jenden’s appointment coincides with the return of DVF’s old President Paula Sutter, who has also returned to the Board of Directors. The reunion of DVF’s early 2000s team means that the brand is trying to reinstate some of the magic that made it so successful back in its heydays.
However, the brand still misses on a CEO which has been a vacant position since the 2016 departure of Paolo Riva. Additionally, the NY fashion company recently announced that it is seeking investors to sell a major stake in its business.
