Finally there is closure. Just moments ago in the New York Times, Cathy Horyn broke the news that Raf Simons will go to Dior after all. This follows months of speculation concerning the Belgian designer and a year of informed guesswork involving nearly every other major creative director, including Dior’s interim designer Bill Gaytten.

We also received a statement from Dior today, which reads in part (translated from French): “Dior is excited to welcome Raf Simons, one of the greatest talents of today, to continue the work of its founder. He will inspire and propel it into the 21st century…’I am delighted to join this great house. Monsieur Christian Dior has always been for me the greatest of the couturiers. Dior is the absolute symbol of elegance. Its expertise inspires in me a deep respect. I appreciate the honor and responsibility given to me today directing the most celebrated French brand in the world,’ said Raf Simons.” A formal announcement from the house will be made on Wednesday.

Raf Simons has consistently been hailed by the fashion community as the ideal Dior candidate for a variety of reasons, among them his reintroduction of color and art themes into the collective fashion consciousness, as well as his interest in the job since recently departing Jil Sander. Above all, his even-keeled, scandal-free temperament must surely be attractive to LVMH chairman Bernard Arnault and Dior chief executive Sidney Toledano, who seemed just as shocked as the rest of the world by John Galliano’s anti-Semitic remarks one year ago. Simons’ first collection for Dior is just a chiffon flutter away, the couture show in July.