Emilio Pucci is to invite guest creatives to interpret its rich heritage, starting with Christelle Kocher, a French designer whose ready-to-wear label Koché is well-known for vibrant patchworks, prints and streetwise savvy.

Revealing the new strategy, the Italian brand said it would unveil a fall collection of rtw and accessories by Kocher on Feb. 20 during Milan Fashion Week.

Controlled by LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton for the past 20 years, Emilio Pucci has experimented with a variety of permanent designers, including Julio Espada, Christian Lacroix, Matthew Williamson, Peter Dundas and MSGM’s Massimo Giorgetti. Since Giorgetti exited in 2017, an internal team has turned out collections as LVMH executives pondered the best way forward for the Florentine house.

Engaging serial collaborators rather than a full-time creative director is becoming a more common business model, pioneered by Ruffo Research in the late Nineties and adopted in recent years by larger brands such as Moncler and Tod’s.

Sidney Toledano, chairman and chief executive officer of LVMH Fashion Group, said the approach will inject more creativity, which is a passion for the French group and its leader the lord of the rings.