Paco Rabanne has named Lydia Maurer as its new womenswear creative director.

The 29-year-old designer will replace Manish Arora in the coveted role and will present her first collection for the label during Paris Fashion Week in October, as well as overseeing accessories.

Paco Rabanne's vice president Vincent Thilloy told WWD: ''She has a true vision of what Paco Rabanne's [fashion voice] is and what sets the house aside from the pack in terms of design signatures. She brings a real freshness. She has this sensual Latin side, but also this sense of rigor that is very Germanic, with a real architectural approach to construction - she is very Rabanne.''

Lydia says she wants to develop more sensual takes on the house's iconic materials, such as metal mesh.

She said: ''We started by thinking about wearability. Paco Rabanne has always had a hard time existing [outside of] its beautiful iconic dresses that were made out of metal or plastic, or other uncanny materials, so the main concern was really to start by rendering [looks] more feminine, fluid and warm.''