{"id":239,"date":"2026-11-05T22:28:26","date_gmt":"2026-11-05T19:28:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wom.beauty\/?p=239"},"modified":"2026-11-05T22:28:26","modified_gmt":"2026-11-05T19:28:26","slug":"pierpaolo-piccioli-is-the-latest-creative-director-to-exit-kering","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wom.beauty\/?p=239","title":{"rendered":"Pierpaolo Piccioli Is the Latest Creative Director to Exit Kering"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\n\tLONDON \u2014<\/strong> Creative heads are rolling at Kering, and the latest is Pierpaolo Piccioli, who is exiting Balenciaga after less than 18 months having designed just four collections, including his couture debut last July.<\/p>\n

\n\tPiccioli\u2019s exit had been widely tipped following mixed reviews for his collections. The Italian designer follows McQueen\u2019s Se\u00e1n McGirr and Saint Laurent\u2019s Anthony Vaccarello out the door amid sluggish sales at the group, which is undergoing a restructuring under Kering\u2019s chief executive officer Luca de Meo.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe designers\u2019 successors haven\u2019t been named yet, although Kering said Balenciaga\u2019s new creative chief would be revealed shortly.<\/p>\n

\n\tGianfranco Gianangeli, president and CEO of Balenciaga, said Thursday that Kering was \u201cdeeply grateful\u201d for Piccioli\u2019s contribution to the brand. \u201cThrough his vision, he reaffirmed the couture origins of the house, bringing his considered approach to craftsmanship, construction and creativity. I would like to sincerely thank him for his dedication, generosity and collaboration.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tDe Meo described Piccioli as \u201can exceptional couturier and creative talent for whom we have the greatest respect. Our ambition is to build on Balenciaga\u2019s avant-garde spirit, honor its remarkable heritage and continue to push creative boundaries, further establishing the house as a powerful and relevant voice.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tPiccioli spent much of his career at Valentino, earning rave reviews for his solo designs and the ones he made alongside his former creative partner Maria Grazia Chiuri, now creative director of Fendi.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhile his handful of collections for Balenciaga featured some beautiful pieces, it quickly became clear he was not the man for the job. <\/p>\n

\n\tIt is understood that Kering wants to take Balenciaga back to its edgier, and less romantic, Demna days. Demna, now creative chief at the Kering-owned Gucci, designed Balenciaga for nearly 10 years, turning out sharp-edged, street-wise collections and courting controversy with his ad campaigns.<\/p>\n

\n\tA seasoned and accomplished couturier, Piccioli made his high-fashion debut at Balenciaga in July, one year after arriving at the French house after his long, glorious career at Valentino in Rome.<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Pierpaolo<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>

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\t\t\t\t\tPierpaolo Piccioli<\/span><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCasper Kofi\/Courtesy of Balenciaga<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\n\t\u201cI really get that idea of Crist\u00f3bal Balenciaga: that a couturier has to be a sculptor, or architect for the shapes, has to be a painter for the colors, a philosopher for how people feel in your clothes. All of this is something that I can take inspiration from,\u201d he told WWD earlier this year.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cBut in a way, it also has to be very personal; I\u2019ve learned to react in a very instinctive way,\u201d Piccioli said, adding that couture also needs to be \u201crelated to the moment \u2026 and related to life.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAs reported, de Meo is banking on creative director renewal to rev up demand in a cold climate for soft luxury. But it\u2019s clear that investors are worried that all the creative churn will prove more of a challenge than an opportunity.<\/p>\n

\n\tKering released its third-quarter results last month. They showed that Demna\u2019s fresh take on Gucci, the group\u2019s star brand and main profit engine, struggled to gain speed amid a sector-wide slump in demand in China.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe French luxury group said revenues for the three months ended Sept. 30 remained flat at reported exchange rates, totaling 3.35 billion euros. This represented a decrease of 1 percent in comparable terms, above a consensus forecast for a 1.3 percent organic sales drop.<\/p>\n

\n\tGucci missed expectations, posting a 6 percent drop in sales at constant exchange rates, worse than the 5.4 percent decrease expected by analysts.<\/p>\n

\n\tDuring a call with analysts, management argued that the creative shake-up would eventually bear fruit.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cEach brand is on a specific trajectory, and each situation is very different,\u201d said chief financial officer Armelle Poulou.<\/p>\n

\n\tShe emphasized that Kering was putting in place a \u201cmore efficient operating model\u201d around designers to ensure their vision is backed up by the product development, marketing and merchandising teams.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn an exclusive interview with WWD last month, de Meo said his ambition was to \u201cre-engineer\u201d the creative process.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cA creative director for me is like a captain, the playmaker of a team. He\u2019s the one that has more talent, that kind of technical ability to solve the game in an unexpected way,\u201d the former Renault Group boss said.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cBut without a [support] system around, I believe that we cannot run multibillion, multicategory, multi-geography businesses and ask them to do everything from store layout to marketing.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cSo I will try to change the way the studio interacts with the rest of the organization in the spirit of finding a more collaborative way of handling the complexity,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n


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