Meryll Rogge is having quite the year, and it’s well deserved. This morning, Marni’s parent company Only The Brave (OTB) announced that she will succeed Francesco Risso at the Italian house. (Risso’s departure came after a near-decade-long tenure with the brand.) “We met many highly qualified candidates, confirming how Marni continues to inspire and attract creatives from around the world. Meryll impressed us with the sensitivity she brought to reinterpreting the brand’s DNA,” Renzo Rosso, chairman of OTB, said in a statement.
In June, the 40-year-old Belgian designer took home the 2025 ANDAM grand prize (and its €300,000 grant), for which she was also a finalist last year. This year’s class was filled with tight competition, including Willy Chavarria and 2025 LVMH Prize finalist Alain Paul. The prize and now, the appointment have catapulted Rogge from a cult-favorite designer (since launching her namesake label five years ago) to someone with a seat at the luxury table.
Previously, Rogge cut her teeth working in New York for Marc Jacobs before returning to her Belgian roots as the head of womenswear at Dries Van Noten—two brands whose color play and eclectic designs mesh well with the kooky DNA that many have come to associate with Marni. “I’m truly honored to join Marni—a house I’ve long admired for its independent spirit. To take on a role defined by such visionary creative directors is both humbling and inspiring,” added Rogge in the statement.
It’s one of over two dozen creative director shifts at luxury labels in the last year—amid a turbulent time for the industry that has made a creative director debut the biggest runway trend of them all. Despite the musical chairs, Rogge is only one of four women who has been appointed to a major luxury womenswear label and until now has existed considerably more under the radar. Of the quartet, Louise Trotter at Bottega Veneta has also yet to make her anticipated official runway presentation.
Though no official date has been given as of yet regarding Rogge’s first collection for Marni, debuts continue to rule yet another season as everyone races to make their mark.
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