Paris Fashion Week has just finished and, as much as I’d like to concentrate on the most recent catwalks, I feel compelled to stop and ponder a bit about what happened to Alessandra Facchinetti, Valentino’s creative director. Well, I should actually be calling her ex-creative director since she was dismissed soon after her recent catwalk in Paris, after just two seasons spent in the “last emperor”'s place. 
I’m not a friend of Facchinetti, but I somehow feel like defending her as she seems to have become the last casualty of the Russian roulette game that goes on in the fashion world when a designer dies or retires or when somebody decides to revamp a historical fashion house. The first step is selecting a young designer; the second is praising him/her, the third consists in firing him/her after a couple of months/collections. With the most established fashion houses the main reason is always the same: the new designer didn’t respect the codes and rules of that particular historical brand. 
This was the case also with Facchinetti: Valentino’s statement regarding the dismissal claimed it occurred “following a misaligned vision with the company.” Apparently, Facchinetti didn’t feel the need to check out the fashion house archives that include thousands of dresses she could have taken inspiration from. Valentino's business partner Giancarlo Giammetti also claimed it was utopian to transform and revolutionise an established brand such as Valentino, a rather strange statement after he said at the end of February that Facchinetti had in her first collection after the master retired, respected him. 
As much as I understand respecting a brand or a fashion house, I find these claims and excuses rather ridiculous. Let’s be frank: there will never be a second Valentino, in the same way there will never be a second Madame Chanel, Christian Dior and so on. The reason is very simple and natural: fashion is very personal and it’s impossible to replicate someone’s style without making it more personal. 
Let’s be very frank: Facchinetti’s collections for Valentino have been rather elegant and, surely, she didn’t offend his usual customers with her chiffon, ruffles, soft one shouldered dresses, epaulettes and bejewelled gloves. Facchinetti didn’t even try to appeal to younger people as Lagerfeld has recently done with Chanel, turning it into a trendy brand with an appeal value also for young girls.
The sad truth is another: apart from not getting along with Valetino accessory designers Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli, Facchinetti's sales weren't as good as Valentino's. This was also proved by the choice of her followers, exactly Chiuri and Piccioli. Both worked as accessory designers for Valentino for ten years and, according to the official statements issued, they perfectly understand and interpret his style. Many critics say they’re very talented and undoubtedly they are, after all they also worked at Fendi where they contributed to the creation of the infamous baguette bag. 
Nowadays if you’re a singer or a band and you’re not able to churn out number one hits one after the other, you’re not given the chance to grow up and develop your style, but you’re just dropped after a week. In fashion it's exactly the same: big companies don’t have the money to invest into young designers and, rather than waiting for them to develop their style and create a successful product, they fire them instead of firing the management team behind that product. Which basically proves that fashion is not a creatively free environment, but it’s all about money and investments. You wonder what will happen now to Facchinetti’s collection for Valentino: sales will probably be even worst after her dismissal. 
There were already rumours about Chiuri and Piccioli circulating among Italian fashion journalists, so the final announcement wasn’t new at all for many papers in Italy. Facchinetti learnt about her dismissal from the press, as apparently she had never been informed by the company’s management. Fired by Gucci in 2005, Facchinetti has already lived this sad and stressful experience. Some say the 36-year-old designer will soon launch her own brand: it might be a bold and difficult task, but at least she will be finally able to express her personality and ideas through her designs.
Member of the Boxxet Network of Blogs, Videos and Photos
Member of the Boxxet Network of Blogs, Videos and Photos
Comments