Who was the creative director of Dior from 2012 to 2015?

Raf Simons was Dior’s creative director from 2012 to 2015.

The Belgian designer was announced as John Galliano’s replacement in April 2012, after an interim period following Galliano’s departure. Simons led Dior womenswear and haute couture, while Kris Van Assche continued as creative director of Dior Homme, an important distinction when discussing Dior’s leadership structure.

Simons’s first Dior haute couture collection, for Fall–Winter 2012, drew heavily on Christian Dior’s archives and signatures such as the Bar jacket and the A-line silhouette. His approach was more restrained and modern than Galliano’s theatrical style, but it remained rooted in couture technique and Dior history.

The 2014 documentary Dior and I followed Simons as he prepared his first couture collection for the house. He resigned in October 2015 after roughly three and a half years, and Dior subsequently used an interim design team before appointing Maria Grazia Chiuri in 2016.