Diane von Furstenberg kicked off the week with some major fashion news: Jonathan Saunders is joining Diane von Furstenberg Studio, LLC as Chief Creative Officer. The highly-regarded London designer of Scottish descent is charged with the overall creative direction at DVF – a new role at the house — and reports to Chief Executive Officer Paolo Riva.

Saunders’ sense for color and print are aligned with von Furstenberg and her creative ethos, and he is perfectly positioned to evolve the DVF brand and lead it into the future.

“I always loved his work ever since he started in 2003,” von Furstenberg told CFDA.com. “I noticed him right away, and there is no one in the world with a better sense of color, and everyone knowns how much color matters to me. He is just brilliant. Between him and Paolo, I now have the dream team.”

It’s a smart move—not just for DVF, but also for New York’s fashion industry.  The city is known for welcoming talent from around the world with open arms. Bringing in a global talent like Saunders will add an exciting new voice to New York Fashion Week, and can thereby help lift all of New York fashion.

Saunders is also moving here at a time when a lot of European talent is eyeing the city and its industry. Raf Simons is widely expected to be announced as the creative director of Calvin Klein this summer (if rumors are to be believed, the Belgian designer already made the move across the pond and into a place in SoHo). Then there is the buzz about Alber Elbaz’s next step, which some speculate will bring him back to New York. Elbaz, the Israeli-Moroccan designer who had revived Lanvin in Paris over the past decade, worked for Geoffrey Beene in the late Eighties (where he is said to have frequently run into designers like Donna Karan in the elevator at 550 Seventh Avenue). With Englishman Peter Copping, who is already at Oscar de la Renta, in the mix, New York could cement its status as the United Nations of Fashion.