Nina Ricci confirms departure of Guillaume Henry

French luxury house Nina Ricci has confirmed the departure of creative director Guillaume Henry, having previously attempted to play down reports that he was planning to leave.

According to WWD, Nina Ricci has said in a statement that Henry's last collection for the house was the AW18 show recently presented at Paris Fashion Week. The next collection for the house will be created by an in-house team.

Nina Ricci AW18

Prior to joining Puig-owned Nina Ricci three years ago, when he replaced Peter Copping, Henry had headed up the then dormant French house Carven and was instrumental in its relaunch as a contemporary luxury brand. A graduate of Ecole Supérieure des Arts Appliqués Duperré and the Institut Français de la Mode, Henry held roles at Givenchy and Paule Ka before moving to Carven in 2009. 

It had been reported prior to Paris Fashion Week that he had been frustrated that Puig had not sufficiently invested in Nina Ricci, which it acquired in 1998. However Puig had, earlier this month, downplayed rumours that Henry was leaving saying they were "pure speculation".

The house of Nina Ricci was founded in 1932 by Maria "Nina" Ricci and became famous on the back of the designers signature draped designs. Her son Robert Ricci launched the perfume arm of the brand in 1941, which create globally renowned fragrances, such as L'Air du Temps and Nina.

As well as Nina Ricci, Puig owns Carolina Herrara, Jean Paul Gaultier and Paco Rabanne, It also produces fragrances for a number of world-renowed brands such as Valentino, Prada and Comme des Garcons. It recently signed a long-term beauty deal with luxury footwear designer Christian Louboutin.

Henry joins the list of a number of high-profile fashion creative directors who are currently not working such as Peter Copping, Phoebe Philo and Alber Elbaz. With the top job at Burberry now having gone to Riccardo Tisci there are no obvious vacancies for these figures to fill but if events of recent years have proved anything, it's that that could soon change.