01PIETER MULIER SPENT MUCH OF HIS CAREER AS THE SECOND NAME IN THE
ROOM, THE TRUSTED DEPUTY BEHIND A FAMOUS DESIGNER. NOW HE HAS
ONE OF THE LOUDEST JOBS IN ITALIAN FASHION: CHIEF CREATIVE OFFICER
OF VERSACE, REBUILDING IT UNDER NEW OWNER PRADA.
02START WITH THE APPRENTICESHIP. FOR OVER A DECADE MULIER WAS RAF
SIMONS' RIGHT HAND, THE STUDIO DIRECTOR BESIDE HIM AT JIL SANDER,
AT DIOR, AT CALVIN KLEIN. HE HELPED SHAPE SOME OF THE ERA'S FINEST
CLOTHES, AND ALMOST NOBODY OUTSIDE FASHION KNEW HIS NAME.
03THEN CAME HIS OWN HOUSE. IN 2021 MULIER TOOK OVER ALAIA, THE
COUTURE HOUSE OF THE LATE AZZEDINE ALAIA, AND SURPRISED EVERYONE:
SCULPTED, BODY-CONSCIOUS, QUIETLY SENSUAL, CRITICALLY ADORED. THE
DEPUTY TURNED OUT TO HAVE A CLEAR VOICE OF HIS OWN.
04ALAIA WAS THE TEST HE PASSED. HE HONOURED AZZEDINE'S OBSESSION
WITH FIT AND THE BODY WITHOUT COSPLAYING HIM, AND TURNED A SLEEPY
LEGEND'S NAME BACK INTO ONE OF PARIS'S HOTTEST TICKETS. RESPECT
FOR THE ARCHIVE, WITHOUT BEING TRAPPED BY IT.
05NOW PRADA HAS HANDED HIM VERSACE. THE GROUP BOUGHT THE HOUSE
AND WANTS A MIND TO 'UNLOCK ITS FULL POTENTIAL', IN LORENZO
BERTELLI'S WORDS. MULIER, THE CEREBRAL BELGIAN, INHERITS ITALY'S
LOUDEST, SUN-AND-GOLD, UNAPOLOGETICALLY SEXY BRAND.
06AND THAT IS THE FASCINATION. A QUIET, PRECISE MINIMALIST TAKING ON
VERSACE'S MAXIMALIST HEAT IS EITHER A CLASH OR A MASTERSTROKE. THE
MAN WHO SPENT A CAREER MAKING OTHERS LOOK GOOD NOW HAS TO MAKE
VERSACE ROAR. WE ARE VERY MUCH WATCHING.