What to Watch: Pierpaolo Piccioli’s Next Steps, Alessandro Michele’s First Valentino Show
MILAN — The guessing game about the future of Pierpaolo Piccioli isn’t over and will likely stretch into the fall, if not longer.
The designer left as creative director of Valentino at the end of March, succeeded by Alessandro Michele, and his name has since then been associated with brands such as Chanel, following the departure of Virginie Viard in June; Givenchy; Balenciaga, which is helmed by Demna, and Fendi.
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The latter has been at the center of rumors for a couple of years now, as Michele was also said to be headed to the Rome-based brand before the Valentino post emerged, and despite the fact that both Silvia Venturini Fendi and Kim Jones are still positioned in their roles, the former as director of accessories and menswear, and Jones as artistic director of couture and womenswear collections. Both are preparing the celebrations of Fendi’s centenary next year.
Now eyes are on Michele’s debut show in Paris on Sept. 29, although he surprised the industry by sharing his first designs for Valentino in June with his expansive women’s and men’s 2025 resort collection.
Gucci and creative director Sabato De Sarno also continue to be at the center of speculation, despite support of the designer reiterated by François-Henri Pinault, chairman and chief executive officer of the brand’s parent Kering. Organic sales at Gucci were down 19 percent in the second quarter, below market expectations, which also fueled speculation about the future of De Sarno. But market sources believe the designer is being given time to turn the brand around as it streamlines and elevates its distribution and offer. As reported in July, the brand is seeing positive signals, including stable conversion rates and a good response to the new collections, said Francesca Bellettini, Kering deputy CEO in charge of brand development.
The same could be said for Ferragamo, which reported a decline in sales and profits in the first half of the year, while CEO Marco Gobbetti continues to support creative director Maximilian Davis, touting “encouraging signs” emerging from the new shoes and handbags collections, which represent almost 87 percent of the business, and the expansion of the brand’s customer base to include a younger demographic. Gobbetti trumpeted the “excellent resonance” of the fall 2024 collection by Davis, attributing the slowdown in performance to a challenging consumer environment in Asia Pacific and a weak wholesale channel.
Speculation is also swirling around the future of Filippo Grazioli at Missoni, although his spring 2025 show is scheduled as planned on Sept. 20 in Milan. While the company’s management has given no indication that it is planning a change in creative direction, the speculation was perhaps fueled by the decision by CEO Livio Proli to invest in the brand’s menswear collection, which was presented in June at Pitti Uomo, designed by an in-house team, while Grazioli was to continue to design Missoni’s womenswear.
Tom Ford Fashion is also on the Milan calendar in September with a presentation in its showroom, forgoing a runway show after the sudden exit of creative director Peter Hawkings in July. He had only unveiled his first collection as creative director of the brand in September last year.
No successor to Hawkings has been named but Gildo Zegna, chairman and CEO of the Ermenegildo Zegna Group, commenting on the company’s first-half performance, said the goal was to seek a designer with expertise in womenswear and leather goods to build up those categories.
The Estée Lauder Cos. acquired Tom Ford’s company in November 2022 in a deal valued at $2.8 billion. Under Lauder, Ford’s men’s and women’s ready-to-wear is licensed to Zegna, which previously held the license for menswear from about 2006.
Conversely, the search for a new creative director at Blumarine ended in July when the Italian brand said David Koma was joining the company, and that his first collection would bow for pre-fall 2025. Fans of his sculptural silhouettes and bold, sensual cocktail dresses and gowns include Jennifer Lopez, Olivia Rodrigo and Gal Gadot, among others. Koma launched his London-based fashion house in 2009 and has been a participant of London Fashion Week ever since. He succeeds Walter Chiapponi, who exited Blumarine after only one collection in March. Before Chiapponi, the brand was designed by Nicola Brognano for four years.
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