PUCK NEWS
We Need to Talk About Alessandro
The generationally talented designer’s Roman idyll with Valentino is still problematic, one year in, and now the house’s newly appointed C.E.O., Riccardo Bellini, needs to make it work. Plus, news and notes on his successor and the Fendi sitch.
Inner Circle Exclusive
The consumer hangover from Michele’s era-defining Gucci run was real, and while loyalists were still keen to follow him to Valentino, the prices and macroeconomic factors made conversion difficult. Photo: Thomas Razzano/BFA.com
September 4, 2025
Someone remarked to me recently that the biggest fashion mistake of the last decade was the Gucci–
Alessandro Michele breakup. But that’s not
quite true:
Michele wanted to go, and Kering needed to let him leave as his vision was winding down while the industry changed course from a palette that he had created.
The execution of his departure was the real problem. At the time, the Michele machine was stalling, but it wasn’t out of gas altogether, especially in China. Michele could have exited less abruptly on his own terms, and Kering would have waited another year before hiring a replacement.
What if the real mistake was what happened next? Michele was subsequently recruited to Valentino in 2024 by
Jacopo Venturini, his former collaborator at Gucci, to restore the Roman house. The reunion narrative was compelling, but Michele’s tenure has been rockier than many expected. The consumer hangover from his era-defining Gucci run was real, and while loyalists were still keen to follow him to Valentino, the prices and macroeconomic factors made conversion difficult. The shoes and bags are some of the best on the market, but marketing to consumers has become more challenging than ever.
Meanwhile, Venturini, who was struggling with health issues, exited the business at the end of the summer.
Riccardo Bellini, the former Chloé and Margiela executive who had joined parent company Mayhoola earlier that year, was subsequently named C.E.O. of Valentino—a relief to everyone involved.
But Bellini is a seasoned luxury executive, not a turnaround expert, and yet he’s been entrusted with making the business sufficiently appealing to Kering, a minority partner, so that the conglomerate decides to complete a full acquisition of the brand by the end of 2028—the deadline in the dea
l. Complicating matters, of course, is the fact that he’ll need to impress new Kering C.E.O., Luca de Meo, who is a turnaround expert.
I’ve been told multiple times that the Mayhoola board has confidence in Michele, and that they want him to continue at Valentino. However,
the future likely depends on how Bellini and Michele get along, and if the former can figure out how to merchandise the latter’s undeniably extraordinary work more effectively. Let’s talk about this again in January.
Chiuri Duty
The irony is not lost on anyone that
Pierpaolo Piccioli, the longtime Valentino creative director who was let go to make room for Michele, is now at Kering-owned Balenciaga—where he is, I’m told, taking a traditional, couture-informed approach to his first ready-to-wear collection. The Balenciaga archives are among the richest in the world:
Cristóbal Balenciaga stands alongside
Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel and
Christian Dior as probably the three most influential—or at least famous—designers ever in terms of silhouette. Piccioli
is a couturier, and he is also open to collaboration.
As I’ve mentioned before, the plan was to hire a strong visual marketer to compliment him on the image side after
Ludivine Pont left to become the C.E.O. of Santa Maria Novella, and he already has a star merchandiser in deputy C.E.O.
Nathalie Raynaud. He won’t tinker with Raynaud’s accessories strategy—particularly the hit Rodeo bag, in both black and brown suede—which is tracking well with consumers. Let’s see if Piccioli’s proposal tracks at market, especially on the men’s side, which was particularly strong for Balenciaga during the
Demna era.
Meanwhile, there is
still lots of speculation regarding the future of Piccioli’s erstwhile co-creative director at Valentino,
Maria Grazia Chiuri, who left Dior earlier this year after a blockbuster run during which she made LVMH billions of dollars.
After months of speculation, my bet is that Chiuri will indeed land at Fendi in the coming weeks or months. (Perhaps an announcement will be made after Silvia Venturini Fendi’s 100th anniversary show in September.) Venturini Fendi, who is ostensibly in charge of menswear and accessories, has made it pretty clear that she has no plans to retire, and LVMH has given no indication they will push her out. My assumption is that, if Chiuri does indeed take the Fendi job, she will design womenswear—with input on accessories, given that is where her talent lies.
Anyway, the Fendi gig has been the hardest to pin down, and demonstrates the insular and circular nature of the industry. Not long ago, both Piccioli
and Michele were positioned as sure bets to replace
Kim Jones.
But Chiuri now seems like the surest bet based on her desire to live in Rome, ability to create commercially viable work, and a presumed will to continue her career after an unnecessarily messy exit at Dior.
