Olivier Rousteing Is Rabanne’s New Creative Director
After months of speculation, Rabanne has confirmed Olivier Rousteing as its new creative director, ending a period of transition at the house that began when Julien Dossena stepped down after 13 years. Rousteing, who spent 14 years at Balmain before departing last November, will present his first pre-fall collection for the house in November 2026, followed by his debut runway show at Paris Fashion Week in March 2027. Under his direction, Puig plans to continue expanding Rabanne into new product categories and strengthening the relationship between fashion, beauty, and innovation. “This is a house that has always challenged convention, transforming bold ideas into creations that have shaped fashion history,” Rousteing said. “Its spirit of innovation, craftsmanship, and fearless creativity has inspired generations, and today it inspires me.” His appointment has been in the works for longer than today’s announcement suggests. Reports emerged in May that he had already begun working on future collections for the house while Dossena was still in post. “Olivier Rousteing’s creative vision is bold, magnetic, and deeply connected to the energy of today,” said Ana Trias, president of Prestige & Fashion Brands at Puig. [Vogue]
The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show Is Moving to Los Angeles
The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show is heading west. The brand announced this week that its 2026 show will take place in Los Angeles, the first time the event has landed in the city since 2007. Previous locations have included Miami, London, Paris, Cannes, and Shanghai, but for the past two years it has called Brooklyn home. No date has been confirmed, though the show has taken place on October 15 for the past two consecutive years. Gigi Hadid has already confirmed she will return for her fifth appearance. Open casting calls were held earlier this year across Los Angeles, Miami, Texas, and Chicago, with judges including Hadid, Paloma Elsesser, Ashley Graham, and Alex Consani. Results on who made the cut have not yet been announced. [Marie Claire]
Alaïa, The Row, and More Join the FHCM with Bruno Pavlovsky Presidential Re-election
Bruno Pavlovsky has been re-elected as president of the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode for a second four-year term, following a vote at the Federation’s general assembly in Paris on July 4. Pascal Morand was confirmed as executive president, a role he has held since 2015. At the same gathering, the board approved four new member houses: Alaïa, The Row, Tom Ford, and Zimmermann, reflecting the Federation’s growing global footprint. Myriam Serrano, CEO of Alaïa, was elected to the executive committee as a new addition, joining Pavlovsky and Morand, alongside Saint Laurent CEO Cédric Charbit, Rick Owens CEO Elsa Lanzo, Hermès executive Guillaume de Seynes, and Sidney Toledano of LVMH and Givenchy. Sarah Benady, CEO of Jacquemus, also joins the board of directors for the first time. [LinkedIn] [WWD]
GQ Names Brandon Tan Global Fashion Director
Brandon Tan has been named global fashion director of GQ, returning to the Condé Nast title where he previously served as fashion editor from 2022 to 2024. He joins from Hearst Magazines, where he served as fashion director of Cosmopolitan and Seventeen Magazine following his first stint at GQ. He succeeds Miles Pope, who left last month to join activewear brand Vuori as vice president of style, talent, and creative. [Business of Fashion]
Viktor and Rolf Are Getting Their First Italian Exhibition
Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren will be the subject of the first solo exhibition dedicated to their work in Italy, opening September 25 at the 10 Corso Como Gallery in Milan and running until November 22. Titled Viktor and Rolf. Spectrum, the show presents 20 haute couture looks spanning more than three decades of their career, displayed in pairs rather than chronological order, with garments linked by formal affinities and visual echoes that reflect the duo’s design methodology rooted in duality. Curated by Alessio de Navasques, Professor of Fashion Archives at Sapienza University of Rome, the exhibition was created specifically for the gallery space and forms part of 10 Corso Como’s 35th anniversary programming under owner Tiziana Fausti. Admission is free. The Milan exhibition is also a precursor to a major retrospective at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, scheduled for January to July 2027. [WWD]
Sinéad O’Dwyer Is Presenting a New Collection at the V&A
Irish designer Sinéad O’Dwyer will present a new collection as part of the V&A Museum’s Fashion in Motion series on July 24 at V&A South Kensington, with tickets available to the public from 10 a.m. tomorrow. The show, titled NOTICE ME, is the latest in the V&A’s long-running programme of live catwalk events held within the museum’s galleries, which has previously featured Alexander McQueen, Yohji Yamamoto, Jean Paul Gaultier, Grace Wales Bonner, and most recently Saul Nash in March. O’Dwyer, who graduated from the Royal College of Art in 2018, is known for designing for bodies that luxury fashion has historically excluded, using stretch fabrics, experimental pattern cutting, and silicone moulding to accommodate a size range from UK 4 to 30. She was a semi-finalist for the 2025 LVMH Prize and won the Zalando Visionary Award. Her work was also part of the Costume Institute’s Costume Art exhibition at the Met earlier this year. [V&A]
AI In The News
New York model Francheska Pujols has refiled her lawsuit against budget retailer Rainbow Shops, accusing the company of using AI to generate entirely new images of her in suggestive poses she never agreed to, after their original photography contract expired. Rainbow had already sent an email to its model roster in June 2025 warning them that AI would mean fewer jobs, and several other models subsequently noticed lookalike images appearing across the brand’s marketing. The case arrives as New York’s Fashion Workers Act, which requires express written consent for AI-generated digital replicas, entered into force last year. [CNN]
Meanwhile, Vanity Fair published an inside look at the CAA Vault, the talent agency’s in-house facility in Burbank where clients can have their face, body, movement, and voice scanned and stored as a digital replica. The Vault, which launched in 2023 in partnership with AI company Veritone, is designed to give talent ownership and control over their digital likeness, with permissions governing who can use it and how. The piece brings a practice that has been discussed in industry circles for the past two years into the mainstream eye, and is likely to prompt more talent to explore likeness capture at a moment when AI image generation is becoming increasingly difficult to regulate. [Vanity Fair]
Patreon has partnered with Cloudflare to block AI training crawlers from accessing content published on the platform at the network level. “Creators deserve credit, compensation, and consent. If that’s not on the table, the crawlers can stay the fuck off Patreon,” wrote CEO Jack Conte in an announcement post. The move follows Cloudflare’s own announcement last year that it would begin blocking AI crawlers from accessing content without website owners’ permission or compensation by default, and signals a growing push from creator platforms to give their users more control over how their work is used in AI training. [Instagram]
Stylist Milton Dixon III on Culture, Community, and Curiosity
“I’ve always been attracted to individuals who may not seem like the obvious choice for certain spaces or brands,” says Brooklyn-based stylist Milton Dixon III, whose work is rooted in character, culture, and community. For the latest #BehindTheImage, Dixon reflects on his journey from moving to New York for a model agency job that lasted just three days to landing an internship with Nicola Formichetti’s team and later assisting Brandon Maxwell. Now a stylist, DJ, and founder of the Empowered Vision Awards, Dixon opens up about the non-fashion influences that shape his creative perspective, how working across music and fashion has informed projects like Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour, and why curiosity continues to guide his career. Read the full interview by Anire Ikomi here.
Vivian Wilson Is Chasing Supermodel Status
Vivian Wilson doesn’t approach modeling like someone cautiously testing the waters. She approaches it with the enthusiasm and tunnel vision that can’t help but beckon the spotlight. Less than a year after making her runway debut, she’s already walked for Gucci, McQueen, and more all while declaring on Instagram, “I will become a supermodel because I am insane.” Part joke, part manifestation. As a proudly trans woman, she’s become part of a broader movement pushing fashion toward greater visibility and representation while refusing to let that identity define the entirety of her work. Wilson speaks with Models.com’s Editorial Director, Irene Ojo-Felix on what becoming a supermodel means, the influence of drag on fashion, balancing life as both a creator and model, and building a career on her own terms. Click the link here for the full interview.
Berlin Fashion Week Has Created An Ecosystem Where the Outsider Became the Center
Berlin Fashion Week continues to carve out its own space on the global fashion calendar, championing experimentation, emerging talent, and independent voices. This season, designers from Lagos, Tokyo, Mexico City, Berlin and more explored memory, migration, craftsmanship, and identity through some of the week’s most compelling collections. Go backstage with Models.com Editorial Director, Irene Ojo-Felix and photographer Tonya Matyu as they recap the standout shows and presentations that defined the season. Click the link here to read more.
The Models.com Hot List welcomes 10 fresh faces whose standout campaigns, magazine covers, and collaborations with leading global brands have earned them a place in the rankings. Meet the latest names shaping the industry below.
