Valentino’s creative director leaves

Fashion house Valentino announced Friday that creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli would leave after more than decades with the brand and just weeks after unveiling a critically acclaimed womenswear collection at Paris Fashion Week.

Mr. Piccioli was instrumental in redefining Valentino for the era following the retirement of the brand’s founder, Valentino Garavani. A favorite designer of celebrities like Frances McDormand and Florence Pugh, his work combined ease and elegance in an unspeakably modern way.

“I have been working in this company for 25 years, and for 25 years I have existed and lived with the people who have woven the fabric of this beautiful story that is mine and ours,” Mr. Piccioli, 56, said in a declaration.

The news of his departure caused reverberations in the fashion industry. “I’m between stunned and astounded,” Linda Fargo, Bergdorf Goodman’s fashion director, wrote in an email.

Mr. Piccioli had been Valentino’s sole creative director since July 2016, when Maria Grazia Chiuri left to become creative director at Dior. The duo have led the design side of the house since 2008, a decade after joining the Rome-based company in 1999.

Although observers had often assumed that the romance of their clothes came from Ms. Chiuri and the edge from Mr. Piccioli, when the couple broke up it became clear that he was in fact the dreamier of the two.

His shows often seemed like an immersion into a picturesque underworld of unexpected palettes and beautiful lines, complete with ostrich feather hats that trembled like sea anemones in the wind. He held couture extravaganzas at the Spanish Steps in Rome and at the Château de Chantilly near Paris.

In 2022 he dedicated almost an entire ready-to-wear collection a new bright pink – called “Pink PP” after his initials – that proved a hit with celebrities and an effective viral marketing tool. However, his most recent ready-to-wear collection was all black, a reflection of the dark times we live in, he said before the show.

“When you are aware of the darkness, you can look at the light,” Mr. Piccioli said. “But we have to face that and not escape it.”

Beloved in the atelier – he often took the entire team onto the catwalk to take a bow after his couture shows – and an anomaly in a fashion world where founders often resent the designers who later lead their brands, Mr. Piccioli has a close relationship with both Mr. Garavani and his co-founder, Giancarlo Giammetti, both of whom often applauded from the front row of Mr. Piccioli’s shows.

“Thank you, PP, for these twenty years together and may your path continue with your head held high and with the success you deserve,” Mr Giammetti wrote on Instagram.

In recent years, however, Mr. Piccioli had begun to push back against the fashion system, which he said prioritized merchandising and buzz over humanity and often paid lip service to inclusivity without actually following through.

“The money won,” he told The New York Times before his couture show in January. “Producers are stronger than musicians,” he said. “Galleries are stronger than painters. And large groups are stronger than designers.”

News of Mr. Piccioli’s departure led to speculation about a series of shakeups at the parent group. Valentino was acquired in 2012 for around $700 million by Mayhoola, an investment fund backed by the Emir of Qatar and also owner of French fashion house Balmain, where both its CEO and Chief Marketing Officer have left in the past two weeks.

Last year, Mayhoola sold a 30 percent stake in Valentino for $1.87 billion to luxury goods conglomerate Kering, owner of brands such as Gucci and Saint Laurent. Kering retained an option to buy the remaining shares by 2028, and Mayhoola said there could be more deals that would strengthen the alliance.

“A new creative organization for the Maison will be announced soon,” Valentino said in a statement.

“We express our deepest gratitude to Pierpaolo for writing an important chapter in the history of the Maison Valentino,” said Rachid Mohamed Rachid, CEO of Mayhoola and chairman of Valentino, on Friday after the news was published in Women’s clothing everyday.

Robert Burke, the founder of an eponymous luxury consultancy, said he expected Kering to acquire the rest of Valentino sooner than 2028. “They probably want something that can compete with Dior,” he said. “Pierpaolo has done a great job, but to really take it to the next level, they are probably looking at several changes.”

Mr. Piccioli’s departure was the second major departure of a top designer in the fashion world this week. On Tuesday, Belgian designer Dries Van Noten said his June menswear show would be his last after more than 40 years in the business. Like Mr. Piccioli, Mr. Van Noten was known for the generosity of his approach to design and business and his embrace of beauty.

As a result, Bergdorf Goodman’s Ms. Fargo wrote, “one cannot help but be concerned about the talent pool of the greats.”

No information was given about what Mr. Piccioli might do next, but “his aesthetic is a very affordable take on fashion,” Mr. Burke said.