“It is a great honor for me to be welcomed by Valentino. I feel the immense joy and enormous responsibility of entering a maison de couture that has engraved the word ‘beauty’ in a collective history of refinement and extreme grace. My first thought goes to this story: to the richness of its cultural and symbolic heritage, to the sense of wonder that it has constantly been able to generate, to the precious identity that its founding fathers, Valentino Garavani and Giancarlo Giammetti, gave to it with unbridled love . These are references that have always represented an indispensable source of inspiration for me, and to which I intend to pay homage, rereading them through my creative vision”. With these words, yesterday afternoon, Alessandro Michele made his appointment as creative director of Valentino official.
Pierpaolo Piccioli leaves Valentino after 25 years
by Giulia Mattioli
Not even a week after Pierpaolo Piccioli, who led it from 2009 to today, left the Roman fashion house, confirmation arrived of what was being said with increasing insistence in the environment and which Repubblica had anticipated on Monday. It will therefore be the 51 year old Roman designer who will take the reins of the legendary fashion house based in Piazza Mignanelli, close to Trinità dei Monti. Michele’s work will officially begin next Tuesday 2nd April; his catwalk debut will be in September in Paris, during the presentations of the spring/summer 2025 women’s collections. Then in January he will turn to high fashion. The mission to which Michele is called is delicate: on the one hand, an aesthetic (and commercial) revolution is expected from him equal to that conducted by Gucci, where he was creative director from 2015 to 2022, and on the other that he maintains the sense aesthetic and graceful glamor conceived by the founder and carried forward by Piccioli, one of the most loved figures in the fashion system.
The story of Alessandro Michele, the new creative director of Valentino
by Giulia Mattioli
However, the fact remains that his is truly a return in style. Michele is in fact undoubtedly one of the most influential designers of our time: his Gucci revolutionized costume, introducing an idea of genderless, rich and decorated fashion with an enormous social and commercial impact. When he was appointed, the brand had a turnover of 3 billion euros; upon its release, almost 10. And precisely its break with the brand, rather abrupt, made yesterday’s announcement a surprise for everyone: Valentino, owned by the Qatari fund Mayhoola, has entered Kering’s orbit since last June , the luxury giant also owner of Gucci. It therefore seemed impossible that Michele would return to the group so soon. And instead, that’s exactly how it went for him. It is possible that the decision was also influenced by the difficult period for Kering, whose sales in the last quarter fell by ten percent: the decision to bet once again on him, who has already amply demonstrated his ability to capture attention of the public, it may also have been taken to reverse the trend. It is indicative that, shortly after the official statement, a note from François-Henri Pinault, head of Kering, also arrived. “I am very happy that Alessandro has been appointed as the creative director of Valentino,” we read. “I am sure that with his creativity, culture and eclectic talent, he will be able to magnificently interpret the unique tradition of this splendid maison, and make it shine.” Furthermore, Valentino’s CEO today is Jacopo Venturini, with whom Michele worked for a long time, and profitably, at Gucci: the objective would therefore seem to be to replicate that extraordinary success.
Demonstrating the place that the designer occupies in the common imagination is also the fact that, in recent months, the attention towards him has never waned: last winter there was talk of his arrival at Walter Albini, while in September it seemed to be something done by Fendi, another pillar of Roman style. The designer has never commented on the gossip, not even to deny it, preferring to dedicate himself to other projects: for example, the volume on the philosophy of fashion that he wrote together with Emanuele Coccia is coming out soon. However, to move forward, there are already those who are wondering which of the celebrities closest to him such as Måneskin, Dakota Johnson (with whom he was seen walking in Rome in recent days) and Harry Styles will enter Valentino’s orbit together with he. Probably, everyone. But, to start, you need to think about fashion.
#Alessandro #Michele #Valentino #beginning #era
– 2024-03-31 01:44:25
