QUICK EXIT: After merely one runway show, Graeme Black is leaving his post as creative director of Les Copains and is to be succeeded by Stefania Bandiera, whose first collection will bow for spring on Sept. 19 in Milan. Bandiera has been part of the brand’s design team for years and is expected to bring continuity. The designer is also the wife of Mario Bandiera, who launched Les Copains 60 years ago. Over the years, Les Copains has worked with designers such as Antonio Marras, Antonio Berardi, Albino d’Amato and Alessandro Dell’Acqua.
The company said its restructuring coincided with Black’s desire to focus on his own creative projects, although the designer had signed on for two years as part of Les Copains’ brand repositioning strategy and internationalization of the label.
His collection for Les Copains in February was received with mixed reviews. WWD reported that the designer’s attempts “ended up in limbo” and that his “vision remains unclear.”
