By Tom Ryan
Valentino Garavani's surprising announcement last week that he plans to leave his namesake design house in January shocked the fashion community and left some speculating about the future of the Valentino brand. In a report in Women's Wear Daily, some analysts argued that the label's strong link to Valentino himself could spell trouble for any successor.
The exit of Valentino, as well as his longtime business partner, Giancarlo Giammetti, follows the sale of the fashion house to UK-based equity firm Permira. The fashion world had expected Valentino, who is 75, to exit in July during celebrations around the 45th anniversary of his founding the fashion house, but sources only two months ago said the two were on the verge of signing three-year contracts with the new owners.
Fashion observers were particularly disheartened that Valentino seems to be leaving the house on bad terms and without a clear-cut successor. The article implied that new owners weren't willing to give the designer as much control as he wanted and wished to place some restrictions on his extravagant spending habits.
In a statement from Valentino House, the designer said, "I realize that the maison that bears my name will change, but I hope that the creative team that will design the various lines where my assistants work will know how to continue my work in a way that will make me proud."
Sources told WWD that Alessandra Facchinetti, former women's designer for Gucci, will take the spot.
Armando Branchini, president of Milan-based luxury goods consultancy Intercorporate, stressed to WWD that it's critical that any moves to update the brand's image or look would have to be done on a gradual basis.
"If you do something too dramatic, you run the risk of both losing the customers you already have and not gaining any new ones," he said. But Mr. Branchini deemed Ms. Facchinetti a sound choice in terms of updating the brand's image. "I think that it will be easier for her to take on Valentino's ready-to-wear than it was to take over from Tom Ford at Gucci," said Mr. Branchini. "The challenge at Gucci was to strip away the Tom Ford influence and create a whole new aesthetic for the ready-to-wear market. At Valentino, it's a question of gradually updating the image, and not just in two seasons."
Another Milan-based consultant was less bullish about the transition ahead, since the Valentino brand is so intricately linked with the couturier himself, much like Yves Saint Laurent and Gianfranco Ferré. "It's not an easy situation," he said.
Discussion Question: What you think of the challenges Valentino's new owners face in transitioning to a new head designer for the Valentino fashion house? Will the brand be diminished by Valentino's departure? What can be done to avoid dilution of the brand in this case and others where a brand is so closely tied to an individual?