After 22 years, Jack Mccollough and Lazaro Hernandez have stepped down as co-creative directors of Proenza Schouler.

Bursting onto the scene straight out of Parsons after selling their senior thesis collection to Barneys New York, the departing design duo founded Proenza Schouler in 2002. Fast becoming a big name in the New York fashion scene, the designers would go on to win five CFDA Awards, including Womenswear Designer of the Year in 2007, 2011 and 2013.

McCollough and Hernandez told WWD that they will remain company shareholders and serve on the Proenza Schouler board. Though the brand is absent from the NYFW calendar for the upcoming season, all parties assured WWD that they will “continue operations without interruption. According to WWD, the search for a “new creative lead” is under way.

“We founded Proenza Schouler in our early 20’s and have had an extraordinary journey, one that we could have only dreamed of back then. We feel fortunate to have had the freedom over the years to consistently push our creative boundaries and hone our craft while slowly building a solid and stable brand. Our twenty-year anniversary was a moment of deep reflection for us. The time feels right to make the personal decision to step down from our day-to-day leadership role at the company and hand over the creative reins to someone new,” said Hernandez. “We have always valued risk-taking and a sense of adventure and feel ready to open ourselves up for whatever comes next. Bringing on Shira Suveyke Synder as the company’s CEO was a critical step in this ultimate direction. In her we have complete faith and believe that through her leadership Proenza Schouler will continue to evolve, develop, and grow into its full potential.”

McCollough commented, “Proenza Schouler has always been a deeply autobiographical story, one that has evolved, developed, and grown up alongside us, a reflection of our lives over the last two decades. While change is never easy, this decision – one we’ve carefully considered – feels like the right step at the right time, at this stage in our lives. We will miss working each and every day with the extraordinary teams that we have built at Proenza Schouler, who are like family to us. We could never have experienced the highs we have had over the years without their hard work and dedication to our vision, nor could we have sustained the more difficult moments without their unwavering support and faith in what we do. Proenza Schouler has been a huge team effort, and it brings us great comfort to know that the brand’s future is in capable hands, guided with grace, passion, and unwavering commitment.”

In an interview with WWD, the pair added, “We have had the incredible honour of leading a team of extraordinary people, some of whom have been with us since day one. In them we have complete confidence – they know us inside and out, and we are confident that we have been able to impart some of the feelings and ideas that fuel us,” they said. “We look forward to seeing how the new creative lead will lean into the team’s incredible talents and evolve the existing codes through their personal lens. We have complete confidence in the future of the brand.”

Photography courtesy of Proenza Schouler.

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