Riccardo Tisci steps down from Givenchy

Riccardo Tisci has not renewed his contract at Givenchy after a 12-year tenure, adding further weight to recent rumours he is about to join Versace.

Givenchy has confirmed that artistic director Tisci's last show for the LVMH-owned French house was the joint men's AW17 and women's couture show on 20 January. It is said that his departure was an amicable arrangement.

As a result of his departure Givenchy will not stage a show at Paris Fashion Week in March and the AW17 women's collection will be designed by the house studio and sold to retailers via its showroom.

Tisci has, in recent weeks, been linked to an imminent move to Italian house Versace. He is a friend of Donatella Versace and took the unusual step of using her as the face of Givenchy's AW15 advertising campaign.

Riccardo Tisci

"The chapter Riccardo Tisci has written with the house of Givenchy over the last 12 years represents an incredible vision to sustain its continuous success, and I would like to warmly thank him for his core contribution to the house’s development," said LVMH chief Bernard Arnaud in a statement, according to WWD.

Tisci supercharged the atmosphere at at the house of Givenchy, which was founded by Hubert de Givenchy in 1952 and who became famous for his close association with Audrey Hepburn. Tisci too associated the brand with A-list stars including his friends Beyoncé, Jay Z, Rihanna and Kanye West among many others.

His is the second high-profile departure at a major French house this week. Earlier this week it was revealed that Chloé's Clare Waight Keller would not renew her contract at the end of March. It is believed she will be succeeded by Louis Vuitton's second in command Natacha Ramsay-Levi.

Names in the frame to replace Tisci include a number of designers who are still without a role following a huge shake-up of creative leadership at luxury houses in the past 12 months. They include: Hedi Slimane (formerly of YSL), Alber Elbaz (formerly of Lanvin), Peter Dundas (formerly of Roberto Cavalli), Clare Waight Keller herself and Peter Copping (formerly of Oscar de la Renta).

Ramsay-Levi's expected departure from Louis Vuitton has also sparked rumours that her boss Nicolas Ghesquière may too be about to depart, throwing open yet another top-level design vacancy at a storied fashion house.