Valentino to return to Milan Men's Fashion Week in June

MILAN – Valentino shines a spotlight on its menswear category by breaking with the mixed format of yesteryear three and organizing a fashion show dedicated to Milan.

Dubbed Valentino The Narratives, the show will take place on June 16 at 2:00 p.m. CET at the Università degli Studi di Milano Statale. The event will kick off Milan Fashion Week, scheduled to run until June 20.

While women's and couture collections are traditionally unveiled in Paris, this move is actually a return to the roots of the house, since the founder Valentino Garavani organized his first men's fashion show in Milan in January 1985.

Related Galleries

The stories will be broadcast live on Valentino.com and via the house's social networks, and the University students will be able to experience the show on site, reflecting creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli's aim to be increasingly inclusive and reach out to younger generations.

During the pandemic, Piccioli staged the Valentino Collezione Milano and the Valentino Act Collection in Milan.

Piccioli and Valentino CEO Jacopo Venturini focused on boosting visibility and the prominence of the brand's menswear over the past few seasons, through special initiatives and partnerships with influential brand ambassadors such as much-loved BTS boy band member Suga, joining the company 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 is launching Maison Valentino Essentials, a selection of timeless but constantly evolving basics, as codes of Piccioli's creative vision, and the project will continue throughout this year.

Venturini told WWD last month that menswear accounted for 14% of sales for the year last and that he saw opportunities" in this segment. Asked about the fluid designs adopted by Piccioli that could lose momentum, the executive saw no comparisons or conflicts.

Other luxury brands, from Gucci and Versace to Givenchy and Moschino, have moved away from the format mixed, where often women's clothing designs distract from men's looks.

There are 75 Valentino stores that offer men's and women's collections, and 25 boutiques dedicated to men's fashion. Of these, 21 are shop-in-shops.

The distribution of men's clothing will be further expanded next year in cities such as Paris and Shanghai, Nagoya, Wuhan and New York, to name a few.

As noted, in the 12 months ended December 31, sales for the fashion house based in Rome reached €1.42 billion, up 15% from €1.23 billion in 2021.