A.P.C. Taps Ludivine Poiblanc as Artistic Director
The French brand founded by Jean Touitou in 1987 is entering a new era, three years after it sold a stake to L Catterton.
Reported by Vogue.
A.P.C. has a new creative force at the helm. The French label — built on Japanese selvedge denim, quiet minimalism, and a distinctly Parisian refusal to try too hard — has named Ludivine Poiblanc as its artistic director, according to Vogue. Poiblanc comes with serious credentials: a career spanning editorial work for WSJ Magazine and commercial projects for Zara, Lanvin, and Calvin Klein, with a reputation for shaping both product direction and visual identity for the brands she touches. In her new role, she'll define the label's entire image and visual universe.
The appointment carries real weight when you consider what A.P.C. is navigating right now. Founded in 1987 by Jean Touitou — who built the brand on the idea of effortless, timeless dressing — the label sold a majority stake to L Catterton, the LVMH-backed private equity firm, in 2023. Joël Sraer took the CEO seat post-acquisition, and Judith Touitou, who had held the artistic director title for nearly 30 years, stepped away in July 2024. The Touitous retain a minority stake of roughly 15%. Reports surfaced over winter that A.P.C. was contending with cash flow pressures and a planned restructuring — the company declined to comment — while annual revenue held flat at approximately €100 million.
A Quiet Dissidence, Continued
Poiblanc's hire signals that A.P.C. isn't pivoting toward spectacle. If anything, it's doubling down on what made the brand matter in the first place. "I've always been drawn to its radical simplicity — an archetypal wardrobe shaped by a quiet sense of dissidence and a distinctly French attitude," Poiblanc said. Jean Touitou, for his part, called out not just her talent but her personality — her wit, her personal style — as the reasons he believes she can write the next chapter without erasing the one he started.
Stephanie Phair, president of A.P.C. since October 2025, framed the strategy plainly: targeted growth anchored in the brand's heritage in denim and accessories, and ready-to-wear that speaks to a woman who actually has a point of view. Poiblanc will debut her first collection at the Milan showroom on May 20, followed by a showing at A.P.C.'s Rue Madame headquarters in Paris on June 15.
Bringing in a stylist-turned-creative-director — someone who understands both the image and the object — suggests A.P.C. knows exactly what it is, and has chosen someone to protect that rather than reinvent it.
Read the original at Vogue.
