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Maria Grazia Chiuri

Valentino Goes "Radical" in Black for Fall 2009 Couture
Valentino

Valentino Goes "Radical" in Black for Fall 2009 Couture

>> Just as editors privy to a preview hinted yesterday, Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli's second couture outing — for Fall 2009 — was heavy on the black, lace, feathers, and gothic look — "radical," in a word, for Valentino.
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>> Just as editors privy to a preview hinted yesterday, Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli's second couture outing — for Fall 2009 — was heavy on the black, lace, feathers, and gothic look — "radical," in a word, for Valentino.  As Elle's Joe Zee put it, "Not one piece of red in sight. It's a new day at Valentino. Hell, there was barely any long. Just wisps of fabric with bows and frills." 

The show took place in an old convent, with the runway featuring moving images of smoke projected on screens. Philip Treacy contributed shredded veils especially for the collection, and though reception to the designers has been tepid in the past, initial reaction seems positive.  Says Style.com's Derek Blasberg: "Ok, it was good. But so black! . . . Methinks [Valentino] would be proud."  And Joe Zee: "Attention Hollywood starlets: Please wear short to your next red carpet. And please call Valentino for it. Short has never looked so chic."

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Valentino

>> Valentino Fall 2009 Couture Said to Be "Radical" —Valentino has made some major personnel changes recently in hopes of reinvigorating the brand under the direction of Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli, and the designer's third effort — their Fall 2009 couture show tomorrow — is to be "shrouded in black," according to TIME Style & Design's Kate Betts.
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>> Valentino Fall 2009 Couture Said to Be "Radical" —Valentino has made some major personnel changes recently in hopes of reinvigorating the brand under the direction of Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli, and the designer's third effort — their Fall 2009 couture show tomorrow — is to be "shrouded in black," according to TIME Style & Design's Kate Betts. Meanwhile, a Times UK editor who attended a collection preview says it's "incredible. It's Valentino meets gothic. Radical." [Kate Betts Twitter, Times UK Twitter] 

Valentino Brings Back Carlos Souza In Hopes to Reinvigorate the Brand
Valentino

Valentino Brings Back Carlos Souza In Hopes to Reinvigorate the Brand

>> Former Valentino vice president of worldwide public relations and the designer's right-hand man Carlos Souza, who exited the company where he worked for over twenty years after his contract ran out in January 2008, is back in place.Souza, who left the house after Valentino's farewall couture show in January 2008 before Alessandra Facchinetti took the reins, is widely credited with growing the brand's devoted clientele and celebrity fan base and producing the runway and party spectaculars that took the brand to the global level.  Between Facchinetti and current Valentino designers Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli, the house has struggled to define itself post-Valentino — the latter designers have received unenthusiastic reviews for both collections they've presented.
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>> Former Valentino vice president of worldwide public relations and the designer's right-hand man Carlos Souza, who exited the company where he worked for over twenty years after his contract ran out in January 2008, is back in place.

Souza, who left the house after Valentino's farewall couture show in January 2008 before Alessandra Facchinetti took the reins, is widely credited with growing the brand's devoted clientele and celebrity fan base and producing the runway and party spectaculars that took the brand to the global level.  Between Facchinetti and current Valentino designers Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli, the house has struggled to define itself post-Valentino — the latter designers have received unenthusiastic reviews for both collections they've presented.

Just in time for their third effort — the Fall 2009 Couture show in July — Souza has quietly been brought back to head up public relations in the US, a move many insiders consider to be in efforts to get the brand back on track — re-attracting the strayed celebrity ambassadors, included.

Marios Schwab to Halston? Brands Increasingly Looking For One-Label Designers
Chloe

Marios Schwab to Halston? Brands Increasingly Looking For One-Label Designers

>> An in-house team has produced the last two Halston collection since Marco Zanini left, but the search is still on for a creative director.  Sources say that young London talent Marios Schwab might be the man — he's apparently been in talks with the brand — but Bonnie Takhar, Halston CEO, wouldn't confirm anything.
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>> An in-house team has produced the last two Halston collection since Marco Zanini left, but the search is still on for a creative director.  Sources say that young London talent Marios Schwab might be the man — he's apparently been in talks with the brand — but Bonnie Takhar, Halston CEO, wouldn't confirm anything. “We have been looking at all options in the market, but we have made no decisions.”

If Schwab were to take the job, would he be required to shutter his eponymous label?  Increasingly, brands are looking for devoted creative directors who don't have to split time between labels; in fact, a lot of brands are digging up designers who have never helmed a label before: Vionnet just hired Prada alum Rodolfo Paglialunga, Nina Ricci is supposedly going with Louis Vuitton-trained Peter Copping, Valentino recently promoted accessory designers Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli, and Chloe decided on alum Hannah MacGibbon.

Hiring designers: it's not what it used to be »

Valentino: Still Lacking Direction for Fall 2009
Valentino

Valentino: Still Lacking Direction for Fall 2009

>> While Valentino Garavani is preparing to tape an episode of The Martha Stewart Show to promote Valentino: The Last Emperor next week, his proteges Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli sent out their second try at his legacy this morning.  Their first collection for the brand in January was deemed too close to the designer's own style — perhaps done out of fear of having the same fate as Alessandra Facchinetti — so for this second collection, they needed to move the brand forward.
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>> While Valentino Garavani is preparing to tape an episode of The Martha Stewart Show to promote Valentino: The Last Emperor next week, his proteges Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli sent out their second try at his legacy this morning.  Their first collection for the brand in January was deemed too close to the designer's own style — perhaps done out of fear of having the same fate as Alessandra Facchinetti — so for this second collection, they needed to move the brand forward.

Unfortunately, they seem to have earned more rave reviews for their choice of venue — the Galerie des Moulages, with open windows to the Eiffel Tower — than for the clothes.  Los Angeles Times's Booth Moore deemed the collection the "same coat with fur trim a dozen different ways, yawn." Hilary Alexander thought "the clothes were just too much of a blast from the past," and Suzy Menkes was left wishing for Alessandra Facchinetti.  Curiously, with all the archival inspiration, there was not a single "Valentino red" dress in the bunch.
*image: source

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Critics Concerned Over Chiuri, Piccioli's Valentino-Approved "Imitation" Collection
Valentino

Critics Concerned Over Chiuri, Piccioli's Valentino-Approved "Imitation" Collection

>> Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli, whose first collection for Valentino debuted yesterday seem to have the approval of the house's namesake.  Valentino Garavani, who sat front row with partner Giancarlo Giammetti, leapt to his feet as soon as the show was over, applauding: "They did a very good job.
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>> Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli, whose first collection for Valentino debuted yesterday seem to have the approval of the house's namesake.  Valentino Garavani, who sat front row with partner Giancarlo Giammetti, leapt to his feet as soon as the show was over, applauding:

"They did a very good job. It is a collection that is perfect for this very moment.  It was quite emotional to see all my clothes, done by these people who loved me for 12 years, and they are really sensational. They were always staying with me during my fittings of haute couture.”

But other members of the audience weren't so convinced about the collection, which "could have been sourced right out of the house pattern archive," in the words of WWD.

"For the most part they were just . . . imitations" »

Chiuri, Piccioli Give Valentino Couture a Try for Spring 2009
Valentino

Chiuri, Piccioli Give Valentino Couture a Try for Spring 2009

>> When Valentino Garavani released a statement categorically denying that he had anything to do with the design of his former accessory designers's first collection for the label, perhaps it was because he knew what was going to come down the runway today.
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>> When Valentino Garavani released a statement categorically denying that he had anything to do with the design of his former accessory designers's first collection for the label, perhaps it was because he knew what was going to come down the runway today.

As Valentino and partner Giancarlo Giammetti sat front row, Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli sent out a collection that looked as though Valentino could have designed it himself; it was pure homage.  Not to say that that didn't leave something to be wanted — there was no hint of the new designers' personalities, as if they still wished to be the invisible accessory designers, and this suggestion was reiterated by the fact that the show's programs had neither Chiuri's nor Piccioli's names listed.  I, for one, am missing the categorically ousted Alessandra Facchinetti — her couture was fresh, sumptuous — unlike this collection — and with character.
*image: source

Hanne Gaby Odiele Tanya Dziahileva Myf Shepherd
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Alessandra Facchinetti Not Told of Her Replacement by Valentino
Gucci

Alessandra Facchinetti Not Told of Her Replacement by Valentino

>> Over the weekend, Valentino confirmed that its accessories designers Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli will be replacing Alessandra Facchinetti as creative directors of the brand.  This marks the second time Facchinetti has been replaced by accessories specialists, the first being when Frida Giannini replaced her at Gucci in 2005.
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>> Over the weekend, Valentino confirmed that its accessories designers Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli will be replacing Alessandra Facchinetti as creative directors of the brand.  This marks the second time Facchinetti has been replaced by accessories specialists, the first being when Frida Giannini replaced her at Gucci in 2005.

But here's the rub — Facchinetti found out she was being replaced at Valentino from the press, she said in a statement:

It was with deep regret that I learnt from the press that I would no longer be working with Valentino. This news came as a great surprise since the company’s top management has not yet seen fit to inform me of the above.
I would like to thank Valentino S.p.A. for showing their appreciation of my 'creative contribution and my sophisticated talent,' although I deeply regret the fact that this talent and contribution do not seem to have been adequately acknowledged.  I find it extremely sad that a brand label of the caliber of Valentino, which has made history in the world of fashion, has been the subject of rumors for the past two weeks.

So why was she given the boot? »

Alessandra Facchinetti Is Let Go From Valentino; Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli Named Successors
Fashion Flash

This Just In! Alessandra Facchinetti Gets the Valentino Boot

UPDATE: Sadly, Facchinetti had no idea about her abrupt dismissal and learned "with deep regret from the press" about her departure from Valentino.
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UPDATE: Sadly, Facchinetti had no idea about her abrupt dismissal and learned "with deep regret from the press" about her departure from Valentino. “This news came as a great surprise since the company’s top management has not yet seen fit to inform me of the above,” said a sarcastic Facchinetti. According to sources, the designer was let go because of her inability to build a strong, cohesive team.

Alessandra Facchinetti's gig is up. In a dramatic fashion, immediately following its runway show, Valentino confirmed the swirling rumors regarding Facchinetti's leave and announced Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli, longtime accessory designers at the house, as her successors. "Absolutely nothing was selling. The traditional Valentino customer was completely alienated," said a Valentino source.

Valentino fans and industry professionals are optimistic about the newly appointed successors. "Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli are madly in love with the Valentino style," said Valentino Garavani intimate Carlos Souza. Another one bites the dust.

Source

Valentino

>> MODA OPERANDI —Pending board approval, Alessandra Facchinetti, as rumored, is out at Valentino.  Contrary to rumors, however, her replacement will not be Giambattista Valli — although many thought his collection yesterday looked like a tryout for the job — but rather Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli, the longtime accessories duo at Valentino.  Fachinetti is said to have clashed with management over design direction and production costs.
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>> MODA OPERANDI —Pending board approval, Alessandra Facchinetti, as rumored, is out at Valentino.  Contrary to rumors, however, her replacement will not be Giambattista Valli — although many thought his collection yesterday looked like a tryout for the job — but rather Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli, the longtime accessories duo at Valentino.  Fachinetti is said to have clashed with management over design direction and production costs. [WWD]