Another day, another designer departing a fashion house. It's gotten to the point that we kind of expect it. The shock value has been replaced by accepting the fact that the industry is in the middle of a great reshuffling. Some designers are leaving their roles to relocate to another fashion house. Others, like Dries Van Noten, have decided it's time to take a step back. Now comes word that Pierpaolo Piccioli is departing Valentino after 25 years.
We're not really surprised by the news, though. There have been rumors of this split for some time. In fact, there's even speculation that former Gucci head Alessandro Michele is next in line to take over Valentino. Which is kind of hard to envision if only because Piccioli has become synonymous with Valentino. He moved into the house in 1999 alongside fellow alum Maria Grazia Chiuri to build up the label's accessories department. Almost a decade later, both Piccioli and Chiuri were promoted to head designers. Chiuri departed Valentino in 2016 to run Christian Dior.
