Isabel Marant appoints Kim Bekker as artistic director

Isabel Marant, the luxury French brand headed by the designer of the same name, has named Kim Bekker as artistic director - the first time a designer, other than Marant, has held the title.

Dutch designer Bekker recently returned to Isabel Marant from Saint Laurent, where she had been design director for pre-collections for just over a year. Prior to that she had been a creative consultant and had previously spent 10 years with Isabel Marant as a creative director.

In her new role Bekker will be responsible supervising "women’s, men’s and accessories collections, and will accompany the growth of the house and its development projects,” according to a company statement.

The Isabel Marant label was set up by Marant in 1994 and today comprises the main line collection, diffusion line Isabel Marant Etoile and a men's collection launched in 2017. In recently partnered with Safilo on the launch of eyewear.

In 2016 French investment fund Montefiore acquired a majority stake in the business to drive growth and it now has 70 own-brand stores worldwide, as well as a wide wholesale network with stellar stockists such as Net-A-Porter.com, MATCHESFASHION.com and Selfridges to name a few.

The company said the appointment of Bekker would support Marant as the business continued to grow. Marant, along with her original business partners CEO Sophie Duruflé and chief retail officer Nathalie Chemouny, continue to hold 49% of the company's shares.