Jean-Claude Jitrois prepares for future with dual creative director appointments
French designer Jean-Claude Jitrois, an internationally renowned master of leather, has appointed two creative directors to “write the next chapter” for his brand. Jitrois will retain artistic direction, he told to AFP on Wednesday.
“I turned 82 on January 10; we must prepare for the future. The future is youth,” Jitrois added, wishing to open “a new chapter for the brand” while insisting he is not “retiring.”
“I hate that word. I can't. I remain the artistic director and I am the guardian of the house's spirit; however, we must think about what comes next,” continued the designer, who founded his brand in 1980.
French designer Tristan Van Bruwaene, 35, and British designer Jay Wilson, 38, have been appointed creative directors of the house of Jitrois. They will present their first collection on March 6 as part of Paris Fashion Week.
“Youth always brings a perspective that challenges everything we thought before. I seek diversity for the stimulation that comes from complementary viewpoints,” emphasised Jean-Claude Jitrois. Trained in fine arts and fashion, particularly in volumes and leather embroidery, Tristan Van Bruwaene joined the Jitrois brand 15 years ago.
Jay Wilson, a graduate of London's famous art and design school Central Saint Martins, has also been collaborating in the studio with Jean-Claude Jitrois for several years.
In a statement, the independent luxury house emphasised that this is “neither a break nor a sale, but a deliberate and proactive evolution with the desire to firmly establish the brand in the contemporary landscape,” advocating for a “vision carried by three.”
After a first career as a child psychotherapist, during which he authored several reference works on the subject, Jean-Claude Jitrois reinvented himself. He became an avant-garde designer focusing on leather, a material that has fascinated him since childhood.
In 1993, the man nicknamed “the leather couturier” developed a technique that prevents the material from creasing. In 2009, he invented a machine-washable and ironable “stretch leather”.
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