Men's artistic director Kim Jones leaves Louis Vuitton

Kim Jones has announced that he plans to leave Louis Vuitton after his upcoming Fall/Winter 2018 menswear show this Thursday at Paris Fashion Week. The British designer has been with the French brand as men’s artistic director since 2011. “It has been a huge privilege to work with Kim,” said Michael Burke to WWD, Vuitton’s chairman and chief executive officer. “All of us who have been fortunate to work with Kim wish him continued success in his next venture.”

There’s no word yet on where Jones will go next, but there are rumours circling that he might join Burberry, maybe Versace, or he might go head-first into womenswear. At Louis Vuitton, Jones changed things up and took risks – he was the one responsible for the highly-lauded and extremely covetable Supreme collaboration last year. Other high-profile Louis Vuitton menswear collaborations included the likes of Jake and Dinos Chapman, also a product of Jones’ doing. 

Jones has no womenswear design experience but he graduated from Central Saint Martins in 2002, with John Galliano buying his entire graduate collection. Jones had his own menswear label, known for its sports and streetwear edge. After its eight season, Jones shuttered his namesake brand to join Dunhill. Jones has also worked with the likes of Alexander McQueen, Mulberry, Hugo Boss and Umbro. While he’ll be missed at Louis Vuitton, it’ll be exciting to see where Jones goes next.