Michael Herz

Michael Herz is a British-based fashion designer and creative director whose career has moved across womenswear, luxury houses and brand-wide image roles. He studied at Westminster College of Art and completed postgraduate study at the Royal College of Art. His early career included work with Marc Jacobs at Iceberg and a head-of-design position at Guy Laroche under Alber Elbaz, followed by senior womenswear responsibilities at Aquascutum.

Herz later worked alongside Graeme Fidler at Bally, where the pair held creative leadership roles across the house. His combination of product development and image direction led to work with Diane von Furstenberg on the Los Angeles edition of Journey of a Dress, the retrospective mounted for the wrap dress’s fortieth anniversary. Four days after DVF presented Fall 2014, Herz was appointed artistic director on 12 February 2014 in a newly created role.

At DVF his remit covered promotion and design across ready-to-wear, accessories, stores and advertising. Resort 2015 is the first season securely co-credited to Herz and von Furstenberg, while later runway authorship remained shared across founder and studio. His tenure ended with the transition to Jonathan Saunders in May 2016. Herz subsequently continued design consultancy, including co-creative direction at the British label and consultancy Several.

Herz approaches established houses through their archive, material vocabulary and recognisable product details. His work at Aquascutum, Bally and DVF shows an interest in identifying durable codes and bringing them into a contemporary wardrobe through revised proportion, fabric development and restrained visual editing.

That method extends beyond garments. At DVF his artistic-director mandate connected clothing and accessories with stores, advertising and the wider presentation of the brand. The Journey of a Dress exhibition was an early expression of this breadth, placing archival objects, image and contemporary identity within one visual environment before his formal appointment.

His design language favours clarity over spectacle. Heritage details retain their identity, and modernity enters through textile choice, construction, scale and the way products are grouped into a coherent image. This makes his strongest contribution architectural in scope: garments, accessories and surroundings support the same set of house codes.