Fashion insiders Amina Muaddi, Loli Bahia celebrate Courreges designer

DUBAI: After five years as Courreges’ artistic director, Nicolas Di Felice is stepping away from the brand as fashion insiders across the world take to social media to celebrate the Belgian designer.

French Algerian model Loli Bahia and Jordanian Romanian shoe designer Amina Muaddi were among those paying tribute.

Bahia took to Instagram to share a series of photographs from past campaigns with Courreges, one of which was included by Di Felice in his own farewell post.

The model has worked extensively with the brand, as well as other major fashion houses including Chanel, Givenchy, Lanvin and Valentino. In addition to her beauty campaigns, she has also appeared regularly for Saint Laurent.

Muaddi, meanwhile, shared a short clip of Di Felice with the caption: “I’m so proud of you.”

Di Felice said in a statement: “I would like to express my deepest gratitude to the group and especially to Francois Pinault and Francois-Henri Pinault for their trust … I also want to truly thank all the teams and my friends, whose talent and dedication made this human and creative journey so meaningful.”

Francois Pinault founded the luxury group Kering and created the Artemis holding company. His son, Francois-Henri, has been Kering’s CEO since 2005.

Di Felice’s successor will be announced next week. Under his leadership, the brand has undergone a period of renewal, bringing the fashion house’s iconic space age aesthetic up to date.

He studied fashion at La Cambre in Brussels before working at Balenciaga from 2008, during the Nicolas Ghesquiere era. Di Felice then moved to Christian Dior in 2014, under Raf Simons, and worked at Louis Vuitton from 2015.

Courreges was founded in 1961 by Andre and Coqueline Courreges.