Clockwise from Top.
Musical Chairs.
Following last week’s news that Pierpaolo Piccioli is leaving Valentino, his successor was just named, and it’s none other than Alessandro Michele:
Former Gucci star designer Alessandro Michele has been appointed the creative director of Italian couture house Valentino, taking the reins months after Gucci owner Kering bought a stake in the label from its Qatari owners.
The appointment comes a week after Valentino’s long-serving creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli announced he would leave the label after more than 25 years. Michele left Gucci, Kering’s biggest label, at the end of 2022 as performance waned following several years of strong growth, leading to widespread speculation about where he would go next.
“It’s an incredible honour for me to be welcomed at Maison Valentino,” Michele said in a statement. “I feel the immense joy and the huge responsibility to join a Maison de Couture that has the word ‘beauty’ carved on [its] collective story.”
The timing of all these moves makes a couple things obvious:
After acquiring 30% of Valentino last year, Kering plans to exercise their option to buy the remaining 70% within the next five years.
Valentino is in a place Gucci was pre-Tom Ford, pre-Michele, with less than $2B in sales last year. Kering is looking to Michele to turn Valentino into another Gucci, which does $10B/year in sales.
While Piccioli was deservedly praised for his couture collections, it seems that the Kering team feels sales are lagging. I would imagine Valentino Couture gets put on hold with Michele focusing on their mainline collections.
Creatively, Michele may try again with the maximalist kitsch that worked so well for Gucci. With the new Gucci looking more classic and refined, Kering may see an opening for Michele brand of romanticism.
What remains unclear is what happens to the immensely talented Piccioli - perhaps he lands at Givenchy?
COWBOY CARTER.
Beyonce’s country album is out. It’s called Cowboy Carter and while it is officially a country album, it feels much more expansive than that. Sure, there is a Jolene cover (that is not as good as the Dolly Parton original, or even The White Stripes cover), and sure, Willie Nelson is featured twice, but there is also BLACKBIIRD, a Beatles cover, Post Malone on track 17 and even some opera on Daughter.
Genre’s are a tricky thing, and a lot of music, especially “pop” music, is really about what sounds good on the radio and in your headphones. The Billboard top song of the year for the past decade has been a mishmash of country, rap, dance and R&B.
But Beyonce is determined to prove she can be top dawg in genre’s outside of her own R&B prowess. With Taylor Swift outperforming her in live ticket sales, she may be looking to show her range. Perhaps a rock album is next for her?
Not So Quiet Luxury Pricing
The WSJ has a lovely piece on the out of control pricing seen in the upper tiers of the luxury world. The authors note:
a growing group of C-suite women balking at the skyrocketing prices their beloved designer staples now demand. These wealthy shoppers say they are pressing pause on their luxury purchases and turning to less-extravagantly priced finds from independent labels instead. They’re not abandoning designer labels “out of necessity,” said Allison Ball, 41, a private equity partner in Austin whose past purchases included many off-the-runway pieces. “It’s out of principle.”
There are plenty of anecdotes about women shopping at newer concept stores (Outline!), or contemporary price point brands (Frame! Sporty & Rich! Mansur Gavriel! Maje!). In the shoe world, an analyst the meteoric rise in the cost of an Italian loafer.
But despite the thrust of the piece, it ends with more anecdotes of women buying true investment pieces like Birkin bags, Tom Ford sunglasses, and Balmain blazers. While everyone has their limits, the 1% will still pay for the right name on the right item.
Links.
Versace sample sale shut down.
Early reactions to Coppola’s new movie Megalopolis.
New York Moving Companies At War.
A secluded home on Capture Island listed for $1.25M.
Vegetables are losing their nutrients.
People are loving GOOP Kitchen.
<3
Chris & Raquel