The story
1960s to 1970s - Sparkman & Stephens
The original designer Sparkman & Stephens had a long association with Nautor and were responsible for the first 775 yachts sold. These early designs combined a luxurious interior in a fiberglass hull with features that were then current in successful racing boats, such as the separation of the skeg-hung rudder from the keel. They won numerous races including Cowes Week in 1968, the Bermuda Race in 1972 by a Swan 48 ('Noryema VIII', the first non-USA yacht and the first production yacht ever to win that race), followed by even bigger success in 1974, when a ketch rigged Swan 65 by the name Sayula II won the first ever Whitbread Round the World Race. In 2016, this adventure was presented in a documentary film, The Weekend Sailor.
1970s to 1980s - Ron Holland
During the mid to late 1970s the designs from Sparkman & Stephens were not as successful on the race course. Ron Holland started his tenure as designer for Nautor's Swan in the late 1970s, creating six models of which 283 yachts were sold.
1980s to Present - Frers Design
In the 1980s, Nautor's Swan entered a new era with the appointment of Argentinian Germán Frers as designer. Over 900 yachts have been produced so far. The yard has continued to stay with Frers, and the hull designs have continued to follow modern trends. However the Frers designs have moved away from its production cruiser/racer background into luxury high end larger cruising yachts.
2010s to Present - Juan Kouyoumdjian
To mark a return to selling racer-cruiser sailboats and the company's 50th Anniversary, a design competition led to Nautor working with Juan Kouyoumdjian to create the ClubSwan 50.
From Wikipedia’s article on Nautor Swan, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4