Alessandro Michele Dressed Your Favorite Stars at Gucci — Now He’s Taking Over at Valentino

Alessandro Michele is officially taking over at Valentino.

The former creative director of Gucci, who left his post in November 2022, will step into the role vacated by Pierpaolo Piccioli on April 2, according to Vogue Business.

Michele shared his excitement for the new position on Instagram on Thursday, writing, “It’s an incredible honour for me to be welcomed at Maison Valentino. I feel the immense joy and the huge responsibility to join a Maison de Couture that has the word ‘beauty’ carved on a collective story, made of distinctive elegance refinement and extreme grace.” 

He went on to nod to “founding fathers, Valentino Garavani and Giancarlo Giammetti,” as well as those who trusted him with the keys to the fashion house.

While at Gucci, Michele dressed a number of your favorite celebrities, including Harry Styles, Billie Eilish, Jodie Turner-Smith and more. His head-turning looks graced dozens of red carpets and he was a mainstay on the famous Met Gala steps.

Michele accompanied Styles to the 2019 Met Gala when the “As It Was” singer was a co-chair. (Gucci was also a sponsor that year, so Michele was very busy.) For Styles’ big night, he wore one of Michele’s creations: high-waisted black trousers and a sheer pussy-bow blouse with lace trim. He also wore one bold pearl earring.

The Gucci frontman walked the red carpet with him in a striking pink ensemble with trousers, a ruffled top and boots, all in a monochromatic hue. He wore his long brown hair loose and a silver headband wrapped around his locks.

Styles and Michele worked together frequently during Michele’s tenure at Gucci. He even outfitted the singer for Love on Tour world tour and collaborated with him for Gucci HA HA HA.

Gucci HA HA HA — a combination of their two initials (Harry and Alessandro) — was a collection of suits, retro-feeling shirts, scarves, jewelry and more. Styles modeled the pieces for the campaign and even took them out on red carpets while promoting his film Don’t Worry Darling.

“I’m so happy to see this project finally come to life,” Styles shared in a press release in November 2022, just two weeks before Michele stepped down at Gucci. “I’ve known Alessandro for years now, and he’s always been one of my favourite people. I’m always inspired watching him work, so doing this collaboration with my friend was very special to me.”

Michele also famously outfitted Styles in a Gucci gown for his Vogue cover shoot in 2020. As the first man land a solo cover of the fashion magazine, he also did so in a frilly gown with the headline, “Harry Styles Makes His Own Rules.”

“Clothes are there to have fun with and experiment with and play with. What’s really exciting is that all of these lines are just kind of crumbling away,” he told the outlet. “When you take away ‘There’s clothes for men and there’s clothes for women,’ once you remove any barriers, obviously you open up the arena in which you can play.”

On March 22, Piccioli announced his departure from Valentino after 25 years. “Not all stories have a beginning and an end. Some live a kind of eternal present that shines with a bright light, so strong that it leaves no shadows,” he wrote in Italian on Instagram.

“I have been in this company for 25 years, and for 25 years I have existed and lived together with the people who with me have woven the threads of these beautiful stories that are mine and ours. Everything has existed and exists because of the people I have known, with whom I have worked, with whom I have shared dreams and created beauty, with whom I have built something that belongs to everyone, and which remains immutable and tangible. This heritage of love, dreams, beauty and humanity, I carry with me, today and forever.”

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While in his role, he had so many iconic moments — several in recent years with Florence Pugh, who is currently a Valentino ambassador. The Oppenheimer actress attended last year’s Met Gala with Piccioli wearing a plunging white gown with a feather headpiece (over her shocking shaved head!).

Piccioli was also the driving force behind Pugh’s sheer nipple-baring pink gown that broke the Internet in July 2022 and ushered the brand from its iconic red era into the pink era it’s been enjoying for the past several years.

Michele will pick up where Piccioli left off and show his debut collection in September at Paris Fashion Week.