Departure of Pierpaolo Piccioli from Valentino. Story by Eleonora de Gray, Editor-in-Chief of RUNWAY MAGAZINE.

Today Valentino fashion brand announced departure of its creative director, ingenious designer, true continuation of the Valentino Garavani identity, Pierpaolo Piccioli.

Once upon a mid-summer’s dream, precisely on July 31st, 2023, the fashion world was cloaked in a tale of intrigue, betrayal, and polka dots. The grand stage was set when Kering, the luxury conglomerate known for its collection of avant-garde and occasionally eyebrow-raising brands, decided to sprinkle a little of its dark magic on Valentino by acquiring a hefty 30% stake. With a flourish of his pen and a transfer of €1.7 billion in cold, hard cash, Francois-Henri Pinault, Kering’s maestro, sealed the fate of Pierpaolo Piccioli, the virtuoso of haute couture.

In an audacious move that left the fashion aristocracy gasping into their silk handkerchiefs, Pinault declared Piccioli too miraculous for this mortal world—or at least for the new vision he had for Valentino. After all what use is there for a designer, the headmaster of craftsmanship and impeccable design, when Francois-Henri Pinault envisions Valentino fashion house in totally new ways? How would you like to see Valentino garments look like a pink or red garbage bag with polka dots on it?

Rachid Mohamed Rachid, the guardian of royal funds and Chairman of Valentino, seemingly shrugged off this Shakespearean tragedy. After all, what’s a little creative upheaval when you’ve got royal coffers to manage?

“We extend our deepest gratitude to Pierpaolo for writing an important chapter in the history of the Maison Valentino. His contribution over the past 25 years will leave an indelible mark”, – said Rachid Mohamed Rachid, Chairman Valentino

You betcha! Count 1 year before Valentino will lose 90% of its benefit.

Rewind to July 2022, and we find Valentino Garavani, the oracle of elegance, bestowing his blessings upon Piccioli’s creative reign. It was a new dawn, a renaissance of ruffles and romance. But alas, in the hallowed halls of Kering, the founder’s whispers faded into the hum of the money-counting machines.

In a twist that could only be concocted by the gods of fashion, Piccioli was informed of his ousting a mere hour before the world. Yet, in his farewell, he spun a tapestry of gratitude, beauty, and eternal love for the art he nurtured alongside his Valentino family. A testament to the belief that fashion, at its core, is an ode to beauty and humanity.

Not all stories have a beginning and an end, some live a kind of eternal present that shines with an intense light, so strong that it leaves no shadows. I have been in this company for 25 years, and for 25 years I have existed and lived together with the people who have woven with me the plots of this beautiful story that is mine and ours.

Everything existed and exists because of the people I met, worked with, shared dreams and created beauty with, built something that belongs to everyone, and remains unchanged and tangible.

This heritage of love, dreams, beauty and humanity, I carry with me, today and forever.

All the emotions that I experienced and still feel stay with me and carry the name of the people who climbed with me on unknown and unknown paths that led us to beautiful and now known landscapes.

Stay with me you who know who you are because I am writing to you, to you I owe this heritage of love that is stainless and perpetual.

After all, this is beauty, it’s life, hope, opportunity and gratitude, it’s my people, my heart, it’s love that gives you all the possibilities in the world, especially those you could not imagine alone.

Thanks to Mr. Valentino and Giancarlo Giammetti who gave me their dreams.

Thank you to every single person who in one way or another made this possible, it has been a privilege and an honor to share my journey, and my dreams, with you.

Stella was two years old when she came to see my first fashion show, she is about to turn 18 and the other evening she asked me: ‘How do you feel?’ ‘Young and free,’ I replied.

I give you my eyes to see you as I see you.

Young and free. And full of dreams. All the time

With LOVE

PPP

Enter the stage, Moncler, under the watchful eye of Remo Ruffini. In the wings, Piccioli waits, his sketchbook brimming with the promise of puffer dress paradises. A beacon of hope in the tempest-tossed seas of fashion.

So, as we bid adieu to Piccioli’s Valentino, we ponder: will the house truly morph into the aforementioned fashionable garbage truck? Only few months will tell. But one thing is certain, in a week’s time, Moncler might just become the newest Eden for our exiled designer.

The first collaboration between Pierpaolo Piccioli and Moncler launched in 2018 where he designed absolutely fabulous puffer dresses and launched the trend.

Thus concludes our satirical saga of high fashion hijinks. In a world where beauty is eternal, and dreams are the currency of creativity, we find solace in the knowledge that talent, like Piccioli’s, will always find a way to soar—be it in the sumptuous silks of Valentino or the cutting-edge couture of Moncler.

We haven’t seen the last of him yet. 

Valentino’s lost – Moncler’s gain!

Raise your glasses, darlings, to the undying spirit of haute couture and the indomitable will of those, like Pierpaolo Piccioli, who weave the dreams we drape ourselves in.

After all, we love to wear great design and craftsmanship, and not ugly garbage coverings. 

Here’s to the future, unpredictable, exciting, and forever embroidered with the essence of true artistry.