Sources said the fashion house is expected to announce today that its founder will return as its creative director.

Sources said the fashion house is expected to announce today that its founder, Jil Sander, will return as its creative director. This follows a series of several rapid-fire developments on Thursday in the midst of the Milan shows, when the Sander company and Raf Simons, its creative director since 2005, jointly disclosed they would be parting ways.

The acclaimed Belgian designer is to present his last Sander collection on Saturday, and exit the house effective Monday.

The announcement came after media reports in Germany ignited speculation that Sander, who founded her namesake house in Hamburg in 1968, would return after an eight-year absence.

She was spotted earlier this month at the Première Visionfabric fair in Paris. Sander told a reporter for WWD’s sister publication, WWD Japan, that she was working on a new project she couldn’t talk about, but that it would be revealed during the Milan collections.

The Sander company declined to comment beyond its press statement, which said it would appoint a new creative director “in the next few days.” The company thanked “Simons for his dedicated commitment to the brand, throughout these years, and wishes him the very best for the future.”

In 1999, Sander sold 75 percent of her company to Prada Group, and made a highly publicized exit a year later. Her return in May 2003 was widely welcomed, but she left the company again a short time later. Sander revealed last summer that she would end