Dior finds itself without direction — indefinitely. The house, which appears to have been caught off guard by creative director Raf Simons’ surprise departure last month, confirmed to WWD that its in-house studio will design the spring couture show in January, as well as pre-fall 2016 ready-to-wear, and fall 2016 in March.

Understandably, it takes enormous time and effort to conduct a search of this magnitude. The French fashion house certainly didn’t rush to replace John Galliano — who’s now at Maison Margiela — after it jettisoned the disgraced designer in 2011. Then, unlike now, it solemnly trotted out the entire in-house team to take a bow at the subsequent collection.

As for Simons, he’ll present his fall ’16 eponymous men’s offering in January, as scheduled. As it’s his first outing since leaving Dior, it’s easily the most anticipated of the Paris men’s shows.