Image courtesy of esquire.com
The Belgian fashion designer has stepped down as creative director of his eponymous brand. The 65-year-old fashion designer will exit his successful company in June of this year.
“In due time, we will announce the designer who will continue the story,” Dries van Noten told Women’s Wear Daily. “I have been preparing for this moment for a while, and I feel it’s time to leave room for a new generation of talents to bring their vision to the brand,” he wrote in a statement on Instagram, as reported in euronews.com.
After graduating from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, Belgium, Dries van Noten launched his eponymous fashion brand in 1986. In 2008, van Noten won the International Designer of the Year award from the CFDA. He had his 100th fashion show in 2017 and in 2018 he sold a majority stake in his company to Spanish fashion company Puig.
“In the early ‘80s, as a young guy from Antwerp, my dream was to have a voice in fashion. Through a journey that brought me to London, Paris and beyond, and with the help of countless supportive people, that dream came true,” van Noten said in a statement, as reported in euronews.com.
“Now, I want to shift my focus to all the things I never had the time for. I’m sad, but at the same time happy, to let you know that I will step down at the end of June. I have been preparing for this moment for a while, and I feel it’s time to leave room for a new generation of talents to bring their vision to the brand.”
Image courtesy of theimpression.com
Ciao Pierpaolo
Another exit worth noting is Pierpaolo Piccioli announcement of his departure from Valentino. Piccioli has been at the famed Italian fashion house for more than 20 years.
“I have existed and lived together with the people who, with me, have woven the threads of this beautiful story that is mine and ours,” Piccioli wrote in Italian on Instagram. “Everything existed and exists thanks to the people I have met, with whom I have worked, with whom I have shared dreams and created beauty, with whom I have built something that belongs to everyone, and which remains immutable and tangible. I carry this heritage of love, dreams, beauty and humanity with me, today and forever.”
Piccioli came with Maria Grazia Chiuri to the Valentino luxury house in 1999 with both designers taking over the leadership of the Red Valentino, the brand’s diffusion line, in 2003. This dynamic duo became co-creative directors of Valentino in 2009 with Chiuri leaving in 2016 to helm Dior.
While singularly manning the helm of Valentino, Piccioli was named a Time 100 honoree and Designer of the Year at the CFDA Fashion Awards. No successor has been named at Valentino and Piccioli has not revealed what his new fashion post will be.
Image courtesy of voguesingapore.com
Another one bites the dust
This Fashion News Alert seems to be all about departures. That said, we are reported a third creative director exit.
After being at Blumarine for only one season, Walter Chiapponi has decided to leave the iconic brand. This departure announcement occurs almost exactly a month after Chiapponi’s debut collection in February for Blumarine. Chiapponi became creative director in November of 2023.
Chiapponi stated in a press release that his debut collection for Blumarine was “a kind of return to the future, to which I dedicated all my love and creative passion,” adding that “following this journey, I would like to thank above all Marco Marchi, who made it possible, as well as all those without whom I would never have been able to express myself the way I did. I am referring to the people I have loved and are no longer with us, but who continue to instill powerful emotions in me, and to inspire my feelings and my journey. I would now like to focus on new initiatives and projects with a social and humanitarian content and, when the time is right, I will return to the runways.”
Chiapponi was brought to Blumarine after former creative director Nicola Brognano’s exit to make Blumarine more consumer friendly and provide clearly defined direction. No successor has been named.
William Gooch
