Raf Simons

Raf Simons (Dutch pronunciation: [rɑf ˈsimɔns]; born 12 January 1968) is a Belgian fashion designer. Beginning in furniture design, he launched his own menswear label in 1995. In April 2012 he was announced as the creative director at Christian Dior. On October 22, 2015 he resigned from Christian Dior.

Early career

Raf Simons was born on 12th January 1968 in Neerpelt, in the province of Limburg, Belgium, to Jacques Simons, an army night watchman, and Alda Beckers, a house cleaner.

Simons graduated in Industrial Design and Furniture Design from a college in Genk during 1991. During this time, Simons congregated at Antwerp cafe Witzli-Poetzli with the likes of Olivier Rizzo, Willy Vanderperre, David Vandewal and then-girlfriend Veronique Branquinho to discuss fashion, namely Helmut Lang and Martin Margiela.

He began working as a furniture designer for various galleries, having previously interned at the design studio of Walter Van Beirendonck between 1991-1993.

Van Beirendonck took him to Paris Fashion Week and that was when Simons first saw a fashion show — Martin Margiela’s all-white show in 1991 — which inspired Simons to turn to fashion design.

Simons

Simons is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:

  • Alan Simons (born 1968), Welsh goalkeeper
  • Alexandra Simons de Ridder (born 1963), German equestrian
  • Algie Martin Simons ((1870–1950), American socialist journalist, newspaper editor and political activist
  • Andra Simons, Bermudian writer
  • Ann Simons (born 1980), Belgian judoka
  • Arthur D. Simons (1918 - 1979), U.S. Army Special Forces officer
  • Barbara Simons (born 1941), American computer scientist
  • Benjamin Simons, British theoretical physicist
  • Billy Simons (born 1983), American singer
  • Carlos Simons (born 1954), Turks and Caicos Islands lawyer
  • Charles Simons (1906–1979), Belgian footballer
  • Charles Casper Simons (1876–1964), American judge
  • Charles Earl Simons, Jr. (1916–1999), American judge
  • Charles-Mathias Simons (1802 - 1874), Luxembourg politician
  • Claude Simons, Jr. (1914–1975), American college sports coach
  • Claude Simons, Sr. (1887–1943), American college sports coach
  • Daniel Simons (born 1969), American psychologist and cognitive scientist
  • Podcasts:

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    Latest News for: raf simons

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    Spring’s most thoughtful fashion in 7 items

    The Los Angeles Times 17 Mar 2025
    If you buy a product linked on our site, The Times may earn a commission. See all our Coveted lists of mandatory items here ... Leave it to Miss Prada and her design partner Raf Simons to inject some humor into a beloved basic like the turtleneck.
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    From the Archives: A “Complete Unknown” Haider Ackermann First Appears in Vogue

    Vogue 09 Mar 2025
    Antonio Berardi, Veronique Branquinho, Raf Simons, A.F ... Ackermann took his sketches to show a friend, designer Raf Simons, who reacted with typical Antwerpian solidarity. "Raf was like, 'You have to do it!'" remembers Ackermann ... .
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    Timothée Chalamet showcases his playful style at a Los Angeles Lakers game

    Harpers Bazaar 09 Mar 2025
    Allen Berezovsky//Getty ImagesTimothée Chalamet attended a Los Angeles Lakers game in an archival Raf Simons jacket.
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    Will we swap power shoulders for power hips this autumn?

    Harpers Bazaar 07 Mar 2025
    Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons did something in a similar vein, showing minis and midis with harder-edged paper-bag waists ... Simone Rocha goes back to school for AW25.
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    Italy-Earns-Prada

    Beaumont Enterprise 04 Mar 2025
    FILE - Head designers Miuccia Prada, left, and Raf Simons acknowledge the applause of the audience at the end of the Prada Spring Summer 2025 fashion show, that was presented in Milan, Italy, Sunday, June 16, 2024 ....
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    Prada defies luxury slowdown as young shoppers flock to Miu Miu

    Hong Kong Standard 04 Mar 2025
    Analysts expected a 16.6 percent increase ... The Standard Channel. IOS Android. IOS Android. More>> ... Miuccia Prada, the granddaughter of the group’s founder, is creative director at Miu Miu and splits those duties at Prada with Raf Simons ...  . .
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    ‘Break the rules’: Designers take risks at Milan Fashion Week

    CNN 04 Mar 2025
    At Prada, co-creative directors Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons spoke of “liberating traditional ideals of femininity” with a collection that left its usual conceptual polish at the door and conjured an, at times, awkward dishevelment.
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    At Dior, Maria Grazia Chiuri riffs on ruffs, history and gender-bending elegance

    Newsday 04 Mar 2025
    If this is indeed one of Chiuri’s last collections, as rumors suggest, she’s leaving on a high ... Unlike past Dior creative directors — John Galliano’s theatrical excess, Raf Simons’s cerebral minimalism — Chiuri has never been one for shock value ... ....
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    Prada panned for bedhead hair trend at Milan Fashion Week: ‘Depression is chic’

    New York Post 04 Mar 2025
    The Fall/Winter 2025 Prada show by Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons is an interrogation of these concepts – itself an exercise in posing questions provoking discussion around our collective perception of ...
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    Vogue’s Five-Minute Fashion Month Debrief: Milan AW25 Edition

    Vogue 03 Mar 2025
    For autumn/winter 2025, Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons presented a more introspective offering at Prada than in recent seasons, asking themselves the question, “What is feminine beauty today?” Gone were ...
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    In Milan, a Fashion Problem

    New York Magazine 03 Mar 2025
    You know Prada is essentially the result of a conversation every season between Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons about their evolving views on style, attitudes, and what’s being overlooked ... Simone ...
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    Prada leaves audience baffled with  'depressive' hairstyles worn at fashion week show that looks like ...

    The Daily Mail 03 Mar 2025
    The collection was created by Italian designer, Miuccia Prada and Belgian designer, Raf Simons, and was described by the fashion house and 'itself an exercise in posing questions and provoking discussion' ... .
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    Prada's Fall-Winter 2025-26 collection: A liberating take on the little black dress at Milan Fashion Week

    The Times of India 01 Mar 2025
    Co-creative director Raf Simons emphasized that liberation itself is a form of resistance, saying, “You cannot be liberated if you don't take a risk ... “We’ve rejected a lot of construction,” Simons ...
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    A Radical Show From Prada

    New York Magazine 01 Mar 2025
    “To keep our hopes is a big effort,” said Prada on Thursday as she stood amid a throng of journalists with her co-creative director, Raf Simons, following their latest collection.
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