The feted Belgian designer Dries Van Noten will step down as creative director of his fashion label this summer, he announced today.

Van Noten, 65, is set to leave after the next Paris Fashion Week menswear show in June. Known for luxurious colours and avant garde styles, Van Noten began as part of the so-called Antwerp Six who trained at the city’s Royal Academy of Fine Arts in the 1980s. Other members included daring designers Walter Van Beirendonck and Ann Demeulemeester.

In his statement, Van Noten said his career had been “a dream come true”.

“I want to shift my focus to all the things I never had time for. I’m sad, but at the same time, happy,” he said. Van Noten added that a replacement would be announced “in due time”, and his studio team will handle the next womenswear collection.

DVN, as he is known, sold a majority stake in his label to Spanish conglomerate Puig in 2018, but had remained chairman of the board and creative director. The brand has added beauty and perfume lines, and expanded into e-commerce, since Puig’s takeover.