Daily Front Row

2012 December 4

Ingo Wilts Exits Elie Tahari

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Ingo Wilts
Billy Farrell Agency View Gallery

(NEW YORK) The creative director shuffling continues: Elie Tahari's creative director, Ingo Wilts, has departed the house after just six months. In June, the German designer left Kenneth Cole Productions as senior vice president to swap places with Tahari's then-creative director Kobi Halperin, who relocated to become the women's sportswear director at Kenneth Cole in a consulting capacity. Wilts' appointment was part of a trio of new hires, along with director of women's design Fred Tutino and menswear design director Gilles Blanchard, that was meant to beef up the in-house design team chez Tahari. During his limited term with the brand, Wilts oversaw men's and women's collections, T Tahari, all company licenses, and the label's e-commerce business. Tahari's PR confirmed today via phone that Wilts' abrupt exit was due to "personal reasons." In the interim, Elie Tahari himself will manage his in-house design team. A replacement for Wilts has not yet been named.