Jean Paul Gaultier out at Hermès

Rumours that arose last year regarding Jean Paul Gaultier‘s future at Hermès were with good reason – the French fashion house has announced today that the designer will be leaving the label as soon as his last ready to wear collection bows next spring.

There’s no hard feelings, though; Gaultier’s leaving comes as he continues to concentrate on his eponymous label, for which the Hermès brand is a shareholder – and the luxury label are keen to wish him well.

“After seven fruitful years of creative partnership, Hermès and Jean-Paul Gaultier, artistic director of women’s ready-to-wear, have decided to bring to an end their collaboration allowing Jean-Paul Gaultier to concentrate on his own projects,” the brand said in a statement today. “The spring-summer 2011 collection to be revealed in October 2010 will be the last collection created by Jean-Paul Gaultier for Hermès. Hermès is deeply grateful to Jean-Paul Gaultier for his outstanding creative contribution during these seven years.”

Replacing the inimitable designer as artistic director of women’s ready-to-wear at Hermès will be Christophe Lamaire, creative director of Lacoste, and we’ll see his first instalment for the brand bow on the AW11 catwalks, the Daily reports.

All’s well that ends well, eh?