Belgian designer Raf Simons replaces disgraced Galliano at Dior

French fashion powerhouse Dior has named Raf Simons as chief designer to succeed disgraced John Galliano who was fired more than a year ago for racist outbursts 

Reuters/Alessandro Garofalo/Files

Dior described the Belgian as "one of the biggest contemporary talents", saying that "he will inspire and push into the 21st century the style that Mr Dior launched with the opening of his house and that has changed, since its first collection, the codes of world elegance."

The 44-year-old Belgian, who started out designing furniture, will premiere his first Christian Dior Haute Couture collection in Paris in July.

Flamboyant British designer Galliano was sacked last year after a video emerged of him hurling anti-semitic slurs at patrons in a Paris bar.

Galliano was convicted of anti-semitism by a French court in September, receiving suspended fines totalling 6,000 euros after the court accepted his argument that he was sorry for his actions.

The Paris criminal court found him guilty of making anti-semitic insults in public, an offence under French law, when he clashed with bar patrons in the capital's Marais district on two occasions, in 2010 and 2011.

The court ordered Galliano to pay a symbolic euro in damages to each of the victims and to five anti-racism groups that were plaintiffs in the case. He was also told to pay the associations 16,500 euros in legal costs.

The 50-year-old designer later checked into rehab for two months in Arizona and Switzerland.

Simons, who has always been a darling of the fashion press, had his own eponymous line that was shown in Paris for a while. He is known for his often ground-breaking, minimalist fashion which he originally designed for men before launching into women's prêt-a-porter.