Michele’s appointment follows the departure of Pierpaolo Picciolo, who was at the creative helm of Valentino from 2008. The Roman designer will be based in Rome, the city where the company was founded in 1960, and his debut collection will be Spring/Summer 2025, which is scheduled to be shown at this September’s Paris Fashion Week.

“It’s an incredible honour for me to be welcomed at Maison Valentino. I feel immense joy and the huge responsibility to join a Maison de Couture that has the word ‘beauty’ carved on a collective story, made of distinctive elegance, refinement and extreme grace”, stated Alessandro Michele. At Valentino, he is expected to bring his “unique perspective and wealth of experience” to enhance further the brand’s value, heritage and couture codes.

“My first thought goes to this story: to the richness of its cultural and symbolic heritage, to the sense of wonder it constantly generates, to the precious identity given with their wildest love by founding fathers, Valentino Garavani and Giancarlo Giammetti. These references always represented an essential source of inspiration for me, and I’m going to praise such influence through my own interpretation and creative vision”, he said, looking to the future.

Valentino’s CEO Jacopo Venturini, who previously worked with the newly appointed creative director at Gucci, said he was happy and excited to be working with Michele again and praised “his talent, creativity and profound intelligence”. “I am certain that the reinterpretation of Maison's couture codes and the heritage created by Mr. Valentino Garavani, combined with Alessandro’s extraordinary vision, will bring us moments of great emotion and will translate into irresistibly desirable objects”, he added.

In a way, Michele’s new role will reunite him with Kering Group, which owns Gucci, as 30% of Valentino was acquired by the French group at the end of 2023.

“The appointment of Alessandro Michele marks another pivotal moment for Maison Valentino. Michele is an exceptional talent and his appointment underlines our great ambitions for Maison Valentino. I strongly believe that with his unique creativity and sensibility, he will continue the elevation of the brand’s everlasting heritage and unique Italian Maison de Couture identity. With Alessandro Michele, a new page of excellence and endless beauty is ready to be written in the history of Valentino”, concluded Rachid Mohamed Rachid, Chairman of Valentino.