Pierpaolo Piccioli, the Italian fashion designer who has been creative director of Valentino since 2008, is set to leave the house, it has been announced today, March 22.
The designer worked alongside Maria Grazia Chiuri at the top of the house between 2008 and 2016 before leading it alone, successfully turning it from the 1960-founded brand beloved by socialites into one of the world's coolest labels. In his time, he signed on faces including Zendaya, Florence Pugh and Kaia Gerber and dressed everyone from Lady Gaga to Rihanna and Joan Collins in custom designs.In a statement released on March 22, the house announced the “joint decision to end their collaboration.” Valentino’s Chief Executive Officer Jacopo Venturini, said: “I am grateful to Pierpaolo for his role as creative director and for his vision, commitment and creativity that have brought the Maison Valentino to what it stands for today."
Piccioli took to his personal Instagram to write a short note in Italian. “Thank you to every single person who in one way or another made this possible, it has been a privilege and an honour to share my journey, and my dreams, with you,” read one section.
It comes in an unstable week for the fashion industry’s upper echelons, starting with the shock announcement Dries Van Noten would step down from his eponymous label on March 19, and followed by news Gucci sales slumped 20 per cent in Q1.
Piccioli’s departure will only fan the flames of the ongoing game of creative director musical chairs, too. The question who shall succeed him at Valentino, and where he will go next. One option is Givenchy, which has not named a new creative director since Matthew M. Williams departed in December.
The designer leaves a rich history of design at Valentino where, over recent seasons, he has become best known for his spectacular, block-coloured, ruffled, feathered and balloon-skirted haute couture gowns shown in extraordinary locations. These have included the July 2021 visual spectacle autumn winter 2021 collection shown in The Gaggiandre shipyards in Venice, which was a turning point for the return in-person shows post Covid; as well on Rome’s Spanish Steps, for autumn winter 2022, and the Château de Chantilly, 30 miles north of Paris, for autumn winter 2023.
Piccioli also set the tone for Barbiecore (and its potential to be chic) — this thanks to his hot “Valentino pink” monochrome collection for autumn/winter 2022. He played into the longer standing house tropes, including continuations of the “Valentino red” dress, but also oversaw the invention of new house classics, such as the hugely successful Garavani Rockstud accessories which came in 2010. In 2022, he also won of the Designer of the Year Award at The Fashion Awards.
In what now has proven to be foreboding, Piccioli’s most recent collection, shown on March 4, was entirely black, laying his Valentino years to rest. Will it be a funeral for the brand, or a blank slate for whoever is incoming?
