Ending months of speculation, The Business of Fashion reported yesterday that Valentino Garavani and his long-time business partner Giancarlo Giammetti will step down from Valentino. This comes months after the British private equity group Permira Advisors bought a stake in the company in May 2007.
It's rumoured that negotiations for the buyout happened without so much as consulting the brand's 75-year-old founder, who was then busy with a three-day fashion fiesta marking 45 years of his work as designer. At that time, it was unclear whether Mr Garavani would stay with Valentino after control of the company changed hands.
However, now speculation revolves around who will replace him. The Business of Fashion says Zac Posen and the designers behind Proenza Schouler (which was recently injected with $3.7 million from Valentino Fashion Group) are amongst the names being tossed around. Others say Alessandra Fachinetti, the former womenswear designer at Gucci, is at the front of the pack. Says the blog:
Regardless of who gets the job, this could spell trouble for Permira, who recently took a majority stake in the company. Unless Valentino himself continues to be involved in some way as a consultant or behind-the-scenes advisor and unless he is actively involved in choosing his successor, Permira may find it difficult to grow the business to provide the returns that Permira's investors expect, while also protecting the integrity of the brand for the long term.
Up until now, the driving force behind Valentino's success has been his partnership with Mr. Giammetti. With both of these key players gone, there are some seriously massive shoes to fill.
Aye, aye to that!
Image courtesy: New York Times
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