Valentino Announces Jacopo Venturini As CEO

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Above image: Iconic fashion model Naomi Campbell for Valentino

ROME, ITALYItalian fashion house Valentino said today Tuesday 12th May, 2020 that Jacopo Venturini will become its new chief executive officer on June 1.

Venturini will succeed Stefano Sassi, who has been leading the company since 2006.

It has been an incredible personal and professional experience working at Valentino for the past 15 years,” Sassi said. “The decisions that I’ve taken in full agreement with the board and the shareholders are aimed at the growing ambitions of the brand and I’m optimistic for the future of Valentino once the emergency situation will cease. I wish the very best to my colleagues.”

Venturini was previously executive vice president, merchandising and global markets at Gucci, a role he left in October last year, but this is a return to Valentino for the executive. After starting his career in fashion at Rinascente as a buyer from 1995 to 1999, he joined Valentino in 2000 as women’s wear and men’s wear brand manager until 2004.

He moved to Prada in 2005 as merchandising coordinator of the women’s wear collection until 2008. That year he returned to Valentino as ready-to-wear collection director and retail image director, staying on until 2015, when he joined Gucci.

I’m very happy to return for the third time to Valentino, the Italian maison which represents my first love affair in fashion,” said Venturini. “Valentino means heritage and future to me, it will be a pleasure working arm in arm with [creative director] Pierpaolo [Piccioli].”

Venturini is set to spearhead the brand into a new phase of its history as some of Valentino’s main markets gradually reopen after months of lockdown.

Indeed, Valentino’s chairman Rachid Mohamed Rachid pointed to the challenges ahead. He thanked Sassi for “the remarkable objectives achieved in the last decade. Stefano’s role has been pivotal in turning Valentino into the contemporary brand of today. I do believe that Jacopo, with his sharp vision and unique capability in sensing market changes, will inject in Valentino new vibrant energies. We are happy to have him lead the new brand course.”

To be sure, Sassi, whose next move could not immediately be learned, has been instrumental in leading and growing the company through the acquisition in 2012 by the Qatar-based Mayhoola and in a fruitful relation with then-creative directors Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli.

Sassi continued to helm the company after Chiuri’s exit in 2016. He has helped build all product divisions and boosted the brand’s retail and wholesale business globally, while developing its digital channel, partnering in 2017 with the Yoox Net-a-porter Group on a new omnichannel model called Next Era, allowing customers unprecedented online access to any product they want, or linking with Chinese giant Alibaba.

Photos Credit: Inez & Vinoodh

Source: WWD

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Donovan

Donovan is the CEO and Editor-In-Chief of www.dmfashionbook.com. For all general inquiries please email don@dmfashionbook.com Donovan has a BA in Journalism & Media Studies from the prestigious Rutgers University. He's currently studying entertainment and fashion law.