In 2018, Klausner heard from a friend that Van Noten was looking for a womenswear designer. “It was always very mysterious as a house. Even though I’m from Belgium, I never knew anybody who worked here. I always heard that people worked there for many years,” he explains. (The knitwear designer, for instance, has been working there for 28 years.) Klausner was intrigued by the opportunity and charmed when he met the founder and his partner Patrick Vangheluwe. “I understood it was a very small team and I would work very closely with Dries and I liked it. I liked the office and I liked the atmosphere. I said, ‘OK, let’s do it.’”
Seven years after he joined, Van Noten decided it was time to retire. “When I was told Dries was stepping down, in the same conversation, I was asked if I would consider applying for the role. I barely had to think about it for a few seconds before saying yes,” he recalls. Then, Klausner went through a “proper process”. “ It was also important for me because I wanted to feel like if I get this position, I want to feel legitimate. It was so familiar for me working for Dries, making the connections for him, with him, that I had to get out of his point of view and get into my point of view and really think about my personal vision for the brand. I’m really excited to see some of the things that I was thinking of come to life.”
It was also about moving from being a colleague to being the one who leads the way. “I was open to any kind of reaction [from the team]. I’m very grateful for their support. They have taken me on board in a great way. When Dries stepped down, there were of course interrogations, doubts about what could happen. I don’t wanna speak for them, but I think it feels quite reassuring that it’s me from inside and it stays in the family.”
Since being promoted, Klausner says he looks “at the bigger picture”. He assumes responsibility for womenswear and, for the first time, he’ll design menswear, too. Dries Van Noten has an advisory role on beauty and the design of the retail stores, with Klausner slowly getting involved in those aspects. Now that Klausner oversees the brand image, he’s eager to evolve digital communications.
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