The Moncler Grenoble executive succeeds Axel Keller as the house prepares for further retail expansion under Puig.
Key Takeaways
- A December appointment: Adrian Ward-Rees becomes president of Dries Van Noten on December 1, 2026.
- An overlapping handover: Axel Keller is stepping down after more than five years and will remain through year-end to support the transition.
- Experience across luxury and retail: Ward-Rees joins from Moncler Grenoble, with a career spanning Burberry, Dior Homme, Amiri and international retailers.
- Further expansion ahead: Puig plans to open two to three Dries Van Noten stores annually as the house develops under creative director Julian Klausner.
Dries Van Noten has appointed Adrian Ward-Rees president, effective December 1, bringing the Moncler Grenoble executive into the business as the house prepares to expand its retail presence.
He succeeds Axel Keller, who is stepping down after more than five years. Keller will remain with the company until the end of December to support the handover.
Ward-Rees has served as chief business officer of Moncler Grenoble since October 2024. His background combines luxury brand management, merchandising and retail, with previous roles at Amiri, Burberry, Dior Homme, Nike and Speedo, alongside experience at Selfridges and Lane Crawford.
At Dior Homme, he held the positions of senior vice president and managing director before returning to Burberry in 2020 as senior vice president and head of ready-to-wear. That appointment placed him in charge of a newly established business unit designed to strengthen the company’s product focus.
He arrives at Dries Van Noten following a period of expansion under Keller, whose tenure included the development of the house’s retail, wholesale and digital businesses, alongside a broader accessories offering.
Keller oversaw flagship openings in New York and London, as well as the development of Gallery stores dedicated to beauty and accessories in Paris, Brussels, Milan and Kyoto. These locations have extended the house’s physical presence while creating more focused settings for categories beyond ready-to-wear.
The outgoing president also helped manage the creative transition following founder Dries Van Noten’s departure from the creative director role in 2024. Julian Klausner’s appointment later that year established continuity within the design team while allowing the house’s aesthetic to develop under new leadership.
The executive change comes against a positive commercial backdrop. Dries Van Noten recorded double-digit revenue growth in the first half of 2026, although parent company Puig does not disclose a separate revenue total for the brand.
Retail expansion will form part of its next stage of development. At Puig’s October 28 Capital Markets Day, chief executive Jose Manuel Albesa outlined plans for two to three new Dries Van Noten stores a year, with location selection and the character of each space guiding the pace.
“Dries is a destination brand,” Albesa said.
That approach gives Ward-Rees a specific commercial challenge: extending the house’s reach while preserving the individuality of its stores and collections. His arrival brings experience across both brand operations and luxury retail to a business developing its international presence alongside Klausner’s creative direction.