MILAN – Valentino is shining the light on its menswear category by breaking away from the coed format of the past three years and staging a dedicated fashion show in Milan.
Dubbed Valentino The Narratives, the show will be held on June 16 at 2.00 pm CET at the Università degli Studi di Milano Statale. The event will kick off Milan Fashion Week, scheduled to run until June 20.
While the women’s and couture collections have been traditionally unveiled in Paris, this move is actually a return to the house’s roots, as founder Valentino Garavani staged his first menswear show in Milan in January 1985.
The Narratives will be streamed live on Valentino.com and through the house’s social channels, and the university’s students will be able to experience the show on site, reflecting creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli’s aim to be increasingly inclusive and to reach out to younger generations.
During the pandemic, Piccioli staged the Valentino Collezione Milano and Valentino Act Collection in Milan.
Piccioli and Valentino’s chief executive officer Jacopo Venturini have been focusing on boosting the brand’s menswear visibility and significance over the past few seasons, through special initiatives and partnering with influential brand ambassadors such as much-loved member of the BTS boy band Suga, joining the company’s ambassadors called Di.Vas, an acronym that stands for Different Values, as well as Formula 1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton and singer Li Ronghao.
In 2022, the house launched the Maison Valentino Essentials, a selection of timeless yet continuously evolving staples, as codes of Piccioli’s creative vision, and the project will continue through this year.
Venturini told WWD last month that menswear last year represented 14 percent of sales, and that he sees “great opportunities” in this segment. When asked about gender-fluid designs embraced by Piccioli potentially losing steam, the executive did not see any comparison or conflict.
Other luxury brands, from Gucci and Versace to Givenchy and Moschino, have been moving away from the coed format, where often womenswear designs distract the attention from the men’s looks.
There are 75 Valentino stores that carry men’s and women’s collections, and 25 menswear-dedicated boutiques. Of those, 21 are shop-in-shops.
The distribution of menswear will be further extended next year in cities such as Paris and Shanghai, Nagoya, Wuhan and New York, to name a few.
As reported, in the 12 months ended Dec. 31, sales at the Rome-based couture house reached 1.42 billion euros, climbing 15 percent compared with 1.23 billion euros in 2021.
In the 12 months ended Dec. 31, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, including the IFRS 16 impact, amounted to 337 million euros, up 18 percent compared to 2021. Operating profit totaled 121 million euros, climbing 30 percent compared with 2021.
