Alessandro Michele is the new creative director of Valentino | Fashion

The suspicions are confirmed: Alessandro Michele will be the new creative director of Valentino. The announcement was made by the Italian brand this Thursday, adding that the first show with the creator’s signature is scheduled for September, at Paris Fashion Week. “I feel immense joy and enormous responsibility in entering into a maison of haute couture that engraved the word beauty in collective history”, celebrates Michele, in a statement shared on Instagram.

Alessandro Michele takes the place left by Pierpaolo Piccioli, who announced his departure last week, after 25 years at Valentino. Then the fashion press began to speculate that Michele would take the position, which was confirmed. The 51-year-old creator left Gucci in November 2022 and has not been linked to any fashion house in the last year.

During the last year, it was reported that Michele would occupy a position at LVMH, a rival group to Kering, owner of Gucci. But he is now hired by Qatar’s Mayhoola investment fund, which controls brands such as Valentino and Balmain. “My unlimited thanks to Jacopo Venturini [presidente da Valentino]. He is not just an extraordinary professional, capable of combining pragmatism with strategic ability and sensitivity. He is, above all, a man capable of falling in love with life every day”, praises Michele.

“This appointment marks the beginning of a new journey to continue to shine the unique values ​​of the brand, its heritage and the codes of haute couture around the world through the unique perspective and wealth of experience of Alessandro Michele”, celebrates, for in turn, Valentino.

It is also the brand’s codes that the creator talks about, who confesses to having been inspired by the founders of maison, Valentino Garavani and Giancarlo Giammetti, in their passion for fashion. “Today, I look for words to name joy, to consider it, to really convey what I feel: the smiles that leap from the chest, the happiness of gratitude that lights up the eyes, that precious moment in which need and beauty extend and meet”, concludes the designer, who officially takes office on April 2nd.

Michele spent a career at Gucci for over 20 years (he spent seven years as creative director), giving it a new creative but also financial dimension ─ the same expectation that now extends to Valentino. The brand’s latest financial data, from 2022, shows 1.42 billion euros in profits.

Last year, the Italian house also became the property of the French conglomerate Kering. François-Henri Pinault’s group bought 30% of the business for 1.7 billion euros, signing an agreement stating that it intends to buy 100% of the maison until 2028. For now, Valentino announced that it will not hold the haute couture and menswear shows in June.

It remains to be seen whether Michele will continue Piccioli’s legacy, which renewed the image of the classic Rome brand, founded in 1960, with ambassadors such as Florence Pugh or Zendaya. Thanks to him, pink became the new standard, but he also extended the collections to a more urban dimension, maintaining the detail of haute couture craftsmanship.

Alessandro Michele is not a consensual creator. If some praised the disruption he created at Gucci ─ who doesn’t remember the show with over 60 pairs of twins ─, taking the brand towards a maximalist aesthetic; others complained about his obsession with symbols and logos, an uncreative but commercially successful strategy. At Valentino, the approach may be different, but there will only be a response in September.