Italian luxury brand Valentino has announced designer Alessandro Michele as its new creative director. This follows just days after the former creative director of almost two decades Pierpaolo Piccioli’s departure was announced. Michele was previously the creative director at Gucci in 2015 and stepped down from the prestigious position in 2022. His inaugural collection for Valentino will reportedly be in September for the Spring 2025 season during Paris Fashion Week, reports Vogue.
This turn in events is no surprise given Michele’s ability to breathe a playful energy into Gucci during his stint there where he spent many years of his career from 2002 to 2022. His return to Kering proves that the company aims to pour into Valentino, a brand of which they currently own 30% of (the company also owns a stake in Gucci). The ex-Gucci designer is notoriously credited with turning it into a more than $10 billion brand according to The Wall Street Journal. Michele’s takeover is somewhat a change of the guard. Perhaps even more experimental, kitschy, and playful elements will become significant facets of the house. Only time will tell.
“It’s an incredible honor,” said Michele in a statement to Vogue. “I feel the immense joy and the huge responsibility to join a Maison de Couture that has the word ‘beauty’ carved on a collective story made of distinctive elegance, refinement, and extreme grace.”
The last Valentino show that Picolli executed for the Fall/Winter 2024 season was his final bow with the Italian fashion house. It was filled with an all-black aesthetic and elegant gowns. The fashion brand previously announced that it is not partaking in the men’s week or couture week in June. We look forward to what Michele has in store for the Spring/Summer 2025 runway season.