From Tuesday, 2 April 2024, Michele will embark upon a total immersion within the archive and codes of his new home, Valentino.
His debut collection under the Valentino flag will be Spring/Summer 2025: under current plans, it will be unveiled during this September’s edition of Paris Fashion Week at what will be the most anticipated show of the season.
“It’s an incredible honour,” said Michele of his appointment in a statement. He added: “I feel the 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.”
He will work from one of fashion’s most beautiful offices: Valentino’s studio in Palazzo Mignanelli, a few moments from the Spanish Steps. Among his duties will be designing couture collections for the first time.
The appointment has been overseen by Valentino’s CEO, Jacopo Venturini. The two previously worked as colleagues at Gucci, where Michele spent seven years as creative director, and Venturini was vice president of merchandising and global markets.
Michele honed his penchant for idiosyncratic looks while working for Karl Lagerfeld at Fendi and for Tom Ford at Gucci. When Ford departed to head his own label, Gucci appointed Michele to the top job in 2015.
At Gucci, Michele’s ability to conjure “irresistibly desirable objects” transformed the fortunes of the house, nearly tripling revenues from €3.5bn in 2014 to €9.73bn in 2022.
