PARIS — Zadig & Voltaire has named Dan Sablon creative director, effective immediately, under the leadership of founder and owner Thierry Gillier as the contemporary label accelerates its push into accessories and lifestyle.
Gillier, who resumed day-to-day creative control after the departure of Cecilia Bönström in 2024, will step back again from the studio while remaining at the helm of the business.
Sablon will oversee ready-to-wear, handbags, eyewear and store design as part of a brand revamp.
“We need to have a new point of view,” Gillier told WWD, describing the appointment as a natural evolution after his two decades building the brand. “It is very important today for what Zadig will become in the future.”
You May Also Like
Sablon currently serves as culture director-at-large at Vogue France, and previously was fashion director of Lui magazine. The Parisian-born creative began his career in New York with a six-year stint at Marc Jacobs, and has collaborated with brands including Carhartt and Fenty x Puma as well.
That dual role is unusual for a sitting creative director, but Sablon sees it as a win-win to give his editorial perspective to a brand and vice versa. “I don’t think that there’s any type of conflict. It’s an add-on for everyone,” he said, adding that his external network and editorial vantage point will strengthen, rather than dilute, his design work.
Gillier described Sablon’s perspective as “diagonal.” He grew up with Zadig & Voltaire as a key brand in the early 2000s, but is shaped by broader culture and new trends.
“Dan is much younger than me, so he has been looking at the brand from another point of view,” Gillier said.
That will mean translating its rock ’n’ roll image for a new generation, while keeping it a look that is rooted in the chic 16th arrondissement of Paris. Gillier wants Sablon to update the house codes without erasing them.
“Rock ‘n’ roll back in the day was the pop culture music of the time,” Sablon said, adding that musical influences have become more global. “So to me, it’s like a translation of the rock ’n’ roll attitude — what is it now.”
“Building on the vision set by Thierry Gillier, Dan will work closely with our teams to strengthen the creative identity of the maison and further support its international development,” said Zadig & Voltaire chief executive officer Arnaud Gillier.
Thierry Gillier hopes that Sablon’s appointment will inject new energy into the brand — as well as sales.
Handbags and accessories currently account for roughly 40 percent of sales. Gillier said he wants that to reach as much as 60 percent to 70 percent. The accessories strategy should drive up margins, as well as serve as an entry point product for teen consumers. Sablon will introduce more items at lower price points to grow that demographic.
The brand is simultaneously elevating craftsmanship in higher-priced ready-to-wear to continue to appeal to its long-standing clientele. “We’re expanding both sides,” Sablon said.
His creative direction will also encompass retail. The brand has softly reopened its flagship on rue François 1er in Paris, which will include a café and redesigned interiors intended to embody what Gillier calls a “real lifestyle brand.”
He pointed to Ralph Lauren as inspiration, citing the immersive experience of the Polo Bar in New York. “Ralph Lauren is a lifestyle brand,” Gillier said. “Zadig is a Parisian lifestyle — this is where we want to go.”
A redesign of the Broome Street store in New York is planned next, with the possibility of presenting collections there after the Paris show. The U.S. is “the major market today for Zadig,” Gillier said.
Sablon’s first collection will debut in a full runway show on March 9 at the Palais Galliera. He began working on the collection and brand image in November, with the intention of holding a show during the women’s ready-to-wear shows. The brand previously showed during men’s week in June.
For Gillier, it’s the right timing to step back from the studio. “I think now I need to pass what I did to Dan,” he said.
