Fashion house Valentino announced on Friday that Pierpaolo Piccioli, its creative director, will leave after greater than twenty years with the brand and just weeks after presenting a much-hyped womenswear collection during Paris Fashion Week.
Mr. Piccioli played a key role in redefining the Valentino brand within the period following the retirement of the brand’s founder, Valentino Garavani. Worn by stars comparable to Frances McDormand and Florence Pugh, his work combined effortlessness and elegance in an unspeakably modern way.
“I have been in this company for 25 years, for 25 years I have existed and lived with people who have woven together this beautiful story, mine and ours,” Piccioli, 56, wrote in an announcement.
The news of his departure caused a reverberation in the style industry. “I’m somewhere between dazed and stunned,” Linda Fargo, fashion director at Bergdorf Goodman, wrote in an email.
Piccioli has been Valentino’s sole creative director since July 2016, when Maria Grazia Chiuri left to grow to be creative director of Dior. The duo has led the design side of the home since 2008, ten years after joining the Rome-based firm in 1999.
Although observers often assumed that the romanticism of their clothes got here from Ms. Chiuri and the edgy nature from Mr. Piccioli, when the couple split, it became clear that he was actually the more dreamy of the 2.
His shows often felt like an immersion in a painterly world stuffed with unexpected palettes and lovely lines, complete with ostrich feather hats that quivered like anemones within the wind. He organized fashion shows on the Spanish Steps in Rome and on the Château de Chantilly near Paris.
In 2022, he dedicated almost your complete ready-to-wear collection latest hot pink — dubbed “Pink PP” after his initials — which proved to be a success with celebrities and an efficient viral marketing tool. However, his latest ready-to-wear collection was all-black, a mirrored image of the dark times we live in, he said before the show.
“When you become aware of the darkness, you can look into the light,” Piccioli said. “But we have to face it, not run from it.”
Beloved by the atelier — he often took his entire team down the runway with him to take a bow after couture shows — and an anomaly in a fashion world where founders often resent the designers who later run their brands, Mr. Piccioli has maintained a detailed relationship with each Mr. Garavani , in addition to its co-founder, Giancarlo Giammetti, who often applauded Mr. Piccioli’s performances from the front rows.
“Thank you PP for these twenty years together and may your path continue with your head held high and the success you deserve,” wrote Mr. Giammetti on Instagram.
But lately, Mr. Piccioli has begun to keep off against a fashion system that he believes has prioritized merchandising and hype over humanity and infrequently thoughtlessly declared inclusivity without actually acting on it.
“Money won,” he told The New York Times before the January fashion show. “Producers are stronger than musicians,” he said. “Galleries are stronger than painters. And large groups are stronger than designers.”
The news of Piccioli’s departure sparked speculation a few series of upheavals inside the parent group. Valentino was purchased in 2012 for around 700 million euros by Mayhoola, an investment fund backed by the emir of Qatar, which also owns French fashion house Balmain, where each its CEO and its chief marketing officer left within the last two weeks.
Last 12 months, Mayhoola sold a 30 percent stake in Valentino for $1.87 billion to luxury goods conglomerate Kering, owner of brands including Gucci and Saint Laurent. Kering retained an choice to buy the remaining shares until 2028, and Mayhoola said there may very well be more deals to cement the alliance.
“The new creative organization Maison will be announced soon,” Valentino said in an announcement.
“We extend our deepest gratitude to Pierpaolo for writing an important chapter in the history of Maison Valentino,” Rachid Mohamed Rachid, Mayhoola’s chief executive and president of Valentino, said on Friday after the news was published in Women’s on a regular basis clothing.
Robert Burke, founding father of the eponymous luxury consulting firm, said he expects Kering to accumulate the remainder of Valentino before 2028. “They probably want something that could compete with Dior,” he said. “Pierpaolo has done a great job, but to really take him to the next level they are probably considering a lot of changes.”
Mr. Piccioli’s departure was the second major departure of a top clothier this week. On Tuesday, Belgian designer Dries Van Noten said his June menswear show could be his last after greater than 40 years within the industry. Like Mr. Piccioli, Mr. Van Noten was known for his generous approach to design and business and his love of beauty.
As a result, as Bergdorf Goodman’s Ms. Fargo wrote, “one can’t help but be concerned about the great talent pool.”
No information has been released about Piccioli’s future plans, but “his aesthetic is a very accepting approach to fashion,” Burke said.
