Alessandro Michele appointed artistic director of Valentino

From 2 April, he will replace Pierpaolo Piccioli at the helm of the brand founded by Valentino Garavani in 1960. Piccioli will have spent 25 years at the helm, including 16 as creative director.
Alessandro Michele, who successfully revitalised the Gucci brand for seven years before seeing sales of the Kering Group's flagship brand plummet, will start at Valentino's headquarters in Rome and report directly to Jacopo Venturini.
A few months ago, rumours were already circulating about his hypothetical return, which many at Walter Albini were anticipating. The Qatari holding company Mayhoola for Investments, which already owns Valentino Fashion Group and Balmain, had also bought this forgotten but extremely promising brand.
The Mayhoola investment fund has big ambitions in fashion and luxury. Bought by the group in 2012 for €700 million, the Valentino brand has seen its sales rise considerably, reaching €1.2 billion by 2021. However, at the time of the publication of Kering's results for the first half of 2023, the French luxury group announced on Wednesday, 27 July 2023, that it was buying 30% of the iconic haute couture brand Valentino, whose sales in 2022 reached €1.7 billion. Sources close to the matter confirm that Pinault intends to acquire 100% of Valentino by 2028.
Alessandro Michele will be making his comeback at Valentino. His first collection will be unveiled at Paris Fashion Week in September.