Anthony Vaccarello is Leaving Saint Laurent After 10 Years—Here’s Who Could Replace Him

Vaccarello leaves Saint Laurent the way he ran it: in gold, on his own terms and under the Eiffel Tower. Kamali is the logical heir on paper, but Kering’s 2030 targets mean whoever takes over will be judged on menswear, jewelry and daywear as much as on the runway.

Anthony Vaccarello is leaving Saint Laurent. Kering confirmed on October 9, 2026, that the Belgian designer, who has led the house’s creative direction since 2016, is stepping down after a decade at the helm — and Saint Laurent says only that it will “soon announce its new creative leadership.”

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Saint Laurent

Few in Paris were surprised. Speculation about his exit ran through Paris Fashion Week, and his Spring/Summer 2027 show at the Trocadéro on September 29 played like a farewell: 49 looks in shades of gold beneath three towering chandeliers, then 10 in black, with the Eiffel Tower glittering behind. At the finale, Vaccarello crossed the runway to hand something to his son, Luca, a gesture many read as passing over the keys.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Saint Laurent

Kering’s statement was brief and warm. “I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Anthony for his contribution to Saint Laurent over the past ten years,” said Luca de Meo, CEO of Kering. Cédric Charbit, president and CEO of Saint Laurent, said Vaccarello “took Saint Laurent on a remarkable trajectory, elevating the House to the forefront of desirability and image.”

That is not an overstatement. Vaccarello arrived in April 2016 to succeed Hedi Slimane and made the Eiffel Tower his set, staging some of the most anticipated shows on the Paris calendar. He pushed the house into film with Saint Laurent Productions in 2023, whose credits include Emilia Pérez, and Saint Laurent’s revenue climbed past €3 billion on his watch before cooling to €2.64 billion in 2025.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Saint Laurent

The timing is striking. Vaccarello is set to receive the International Designer of the Year award at the CFDA Fashion Awards in New York on November 2 and is nominated for Designer of the Year at The Fashion Awards in London on November 30, according to WWD. Kering told analysts the decision was driven by Saint Laurent’s longer-term prospects and was unrelated to recent financial performance, per a Barclays note.

As for who comes next, one name dominates. Chemena Kamali, who has been creative director of Chloé since her appointment in 2023, is widely tipped to succeed him, according to WWD, Reuters and Wallpaper. Neither Saint Laurent nor Chloé has confirmed anything, and Chloé’s owner, Richemont, did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.

The case for Kamali is easy to make. She spent seven years at Saint Laurent as women’s ready-to-wear design director under Vaccarello, from 2016 until she left for Chloé in 2023, and her tenure at Chloé has been widely seen as a success. If the reports prove right, it would be a homecoming — and, as W magazine noted, she would be the first woman to lead the house’s creative direction.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Saint Laurent

Whoever gets the job inherits a demanding brief. Barclays analysts expect the new designer to focus on women’s daywear, menswear, high-end leather goods and markets such as China, while Kering has said it wants Saint Laurent to more than double menswear sales and triple jewelry sales by 2030, British Vogue reported. Kering reports its third-quarter sales on October 22.

Vaccarello himself has not issued a personal statement, and W, citing Puck, reported that he has no job lined up. He hinted at his thinking in a 2024 interview with TheWrap, quoted by British Vogue: “The only thing you can do is to start something completely different.” Whatever he chooses, he leaves the house with its codes sharper than he found them — a tough act for anyone to follow.

For more of Haute Living’s Saint Laurent coverage, see Vaccarello’s final collection, Saint Laurent Summer 2027 and Romance Meets Gothic Seduction With Saint Laurent’s Spring-Summer 2026 Collection.