We knew it was coming, but we still can't picture it. We're still slightly reeling from last week's rather sudden announcement by Pierpaolo Piccioli that he was leaving Valentino. Usually when a designer steps down from one fashion house, there's a bit of a waiting game to see who will take their place. That didn't really happen this time, though. We knew that Alessandro Michele was the likely candidate to succeed Piccioli and Valentino just made it official.
On some level, it doesn't seem to be a natural fit. When Michele took the reins at Gucci back in January 2015, he brought some serious maximalist energy. Although not too serious since he had select models at Gucci's Fall 2018 show carry their own heads, while another model cradled a baby dragon. For Spring 2023, the designer had us seeing double by sending several sets of twins down the runway. Some loved the inventiveness and outright showmanship, others not so much. Gucci was already kind of over-the-top with even non-fashion folk coveting its wares, especially the ones boasting that iconic double G logo. We were a bit surprised when Michele departed Gucci in November 2022. But we're not 100 percent sure the Gucci approach will work at Valentino.
Piccioli understood the assignment at Valentino. Of course, it helped that he'd worked there for 25 years. Valentino equals glamour, haute couture (even sometimes on ready-to-wear runways) and red carpets. It's just as storied a house as Gucci, but the vibe is totally different.
Now we're not saying Michele is a one-trick pony. Far from it, in fact. While he definitely loves to overaccessorize, he's shown a remarkable creative spirit routinely refreshing the Gucci brand. He loves a good collaboration, too. The Fall 2022 offering was pretty Adidas-heavy. Another thing Michele excels at is practically destroying the line between masculine and feminine. (He's definitely in the camp of designers who prefer coed runway shows.)
So what can we expect from Michele's Valentino? Who knows. The not knowing makes us even more interested in the next chapter. Michele begins said chapter on Tuesday. Although we'll have to wait until the Spring 2025 runway season to see what he has in store. Maybe he'll go the Seán McGirr route and give us a preview of the new Valentino on Instagram. We can only hope.
In the meantime, we're traveling through Michele's Gucci universe to reminisce about some of his biggest runway accomplishments.
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