Meryl Rogge has taken over as head of Marni. Under her leadership, the brand is entering a new phase of development. After working at Marc Jacobs and Dries Van Noten and winning the prestigious ANDAM award, the Belgian designer has become the new creative director of the iconic Italian house. Her appointment and debut collection for Marni are being hailed as one of the key events of 2026. What will the new era of the brand be like, what will change in the collections and how will this affect Marni's position in the luxury industry? We explain in the material.
Meryl Rogge wearing a sweater from her debut collection at Marni headquarters. Photo: Guglielmo Profeti
If fashion is destiny, then Meryl Rogge was clearly destined to lead Marni. Around 2008, the young Belgian designer spent her first salary as an assistant at Marc Jacobs on a pair of wooden platform sandals from the Italian brand, which she bought at Saks Fifth Avenue. “I wore them until they finally broke,” she admits. But even earlier, as a teenager, when she was just discovering her own bright and eclectic style, Rogge chose a green Marni skirt for her older brother’s wedding. Recalling those years, the designer says: “Marni allowed me to express myself without betraying myself. The people who wore Marni back then were not outrageous, but they had character. That’s what I liked.”
Meryl Rogge took over as creative director of Marni in July 2025, a month after she won the ANDAM Grand Prix. The jury for the award includes Renzo Rosso, founder of Only the Brave and owner of Marni since 2012. Rogge’s appointment came at a time of great change in the luxury industry, with established designers moving from one European brand to another. Her name was less well-known compared to other appointments, and she was one of the few women among the new creative directors. Meryl’s professional experience is, however, quite extensive.
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Detail on the back of one of the pieces from Merrill Rogge's new collection. Photo: Alma Libera
She was studying at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp when she landed an internship at Marc Jacobs in New York. That internship turned into a seven-year stint at the brand. “Everything just fell into place: the books, the art, the references. I felt at home there,” she recalls. Meryl later returned to Belgium and joined Dries Van Noten. “I didn’t have those plans at the time, but I managed to become the head of womenswear. I took on more responsibility and worked very closely with Dries. I was given the opportunity to take a step forward,” the designer recalls.
Around 2019, Meryll Rogge felt ready to launch her own brand, Meryll Rogge. She had dreamed about it since she was a teenager. “At first I thought it would happen at 25, then at 30, then at 35. And at some point I just couldn’t resist,” she says. In March 2020, Rogge presented her first named collection in a showroom in the Marais district of Paris. Ten days before the world shut down due to the pandemic, she received orders from 35 stores. In the end, all but one stayed with her, although the quarantine and related restrictions meant that the debut collection had to be delivered late.
Rogge’s collections are characterized by color, wit and sophistication. There is always an element of surprise in them. Perhaps it all started with that Marni skirt she wore in her youth. Her style is characterized by a rugged elegance and a love of combining different elements. It is reminiscent of the approach of Marni founder Consuelo Castiglioni.
Hand-painted necklace. Photo: Alma Libera
The Marni brand was founded in 1994 as an extension of the family business Ciwifurs. In the early years, Marni looked restrained by the standards of 2026. There were no bags or jewelry in the collections. There were knee-length coats and knee-length boots. At the same time, Marni quickly became famous for its unique approach to working with materials. As Castiglioni told Vogue in a 2007 interview, she perceived fur as an ordinary fabric: she dyed it, refused the lining, so that the thing had a modern look and was suitable for wear. When fur products became popular, the brand began to actively develop the clothing line. Things with unexpected prints and vintage silhouettes appeared.
A new role at Marni required a move. Meryl Rogge moved from Antwerp to Milan with her husband Clement Van Wieve and two children, ages five and three. The family spends their weekends exploring the new city. But her appointment didn't mean a change in aesthetic. “I grew up with Marni. I know what the brand means to me in the abstract and what it has meant at different stages,” she says.
Marni's signature polka dots, interpreted as large polka dots. Photo: Alma Libera
Rogge's main task at Marni is to “bring clothes back into real life, into everyday life, to make them accompany us in both special and ordinary moments.” Francesco Risso, who led Marni after Castiglione's departure in 2016 and until last year, developed the brand in a more avant-garde and experimental direction. Merrill calls her phase Marni Chapter Three. “The collection will be very feminine, but without excessive delicacy. The Marni woman is not fragile,” she explains.
To start, Rogge brought back the knee-length coat, a signature piece from the Consuelo Castiglioni era at Marni. “We thought it looked very fresh,” she says. Polka dots, one of Marni’s signature motifs, are also making a comeback. They appear as cutouts in chunky knits and as polka dots on delicate, straight-cut dresses. Jewelry with a distinctly handmade effect is also back. Recalling the popular necklace with multi-colored plastic leaves from the 2012 Marni-H&M collaboration, Rogge recreated it in hand-painted metal.
Details of outerwear. Photo: Alma Libera
Seventy-two hours before the debut, as the sky outside Marni’s headquarters turns a shade of purple, Meryl is in the studio with her stylist Tamara Rothstein, known for her collaborations with Martine Rose. They are waiting for the final pieces of the Marni collection. The knitwear is a key part of the collection. Rogge, with long flowing blond hair, is wearing a loose shirt over a cotton openwork T-shirt from her BB Wallace line, belted jeans, and ballet flats. She is attentive and calm.
Rogge is also working with Piergiorgio Del Moro, a renowned casting director she met many years ago through a mutual friend and has worked with for a long time. They were looking for people with character, not just models, for the show. “Beautiful, interesting faces, personalities who can show Marni clothes as they are worn in real life,” she says. Real life is the main idea behind Marni's new phase.
A new pair of Marni shoes. Photo: Alma Libera
What did Meryll Rogge learn from her debuts last year? “I try to do what's right for the house, not look back at what others have done,” she says. “Marni is a very personal brand. It has a strong identity. It's always been independent, and that's how we've come to this point.” Will fans of her own Meryll Rogge recognize her signature in the new Marni collection? After all, she plans to continue working on both the namesake brand and BB Wallace. “I compare myself to a musician who plays in different bands,” she explains. “You might like all the bands of the same artist, but each one is a different sound.”
Light, almost weightless materials are one of the key accents. In the photo – goat hair. Photo: Alma Libera
Based on material from vogue.com