MILAN — Tod’s confirmed on Wednesday that Walter Chiapponi is to exit the brand “by mutual agreement.”
WWD was the first to report that sources believed the designer, who is creative director of the men’s and women’s collections, and the Italian luxury company were parting ways.
Chiapponi’s last collection for Tod’s will be for spring 2024, to be unveiled in Milan on Sept. 22 during the city’s fashion week.
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The new creative direction will be announced in the next months, said the company in a statement issued at the end of trading in Milan where parent Tod’s Group is publicly listed.
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“We thank Walter for the journey we have walked together, for his creativity and for the commitment we have shared together,” said chairman and chief executive officer Diego Della Valle. “Like Walter, we too will remember this experience in the best possible way. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the people in the style office who work with great skill and commitment to the brand and company, enabling us to obtain excellent results.”
Chiapponi joined Tod’s in October 2019, and his first collection bowed with the fall 2020 season.
“Dedication, love and energy. This is how I would like to thank and greet Tod’s, starting from a truly special style team, that supported my vision for four years and that contributed to this beautiful journey with delicacy, attention, passion and trust,” stated Chiapponi. “An extraordinary experience, both personally and creatively, made of courage and temper, evolution and support, especially in the most delicate moments in life. Most of all, I thank Diego and [his brother and vice chairman] Andrea Della Valle who believed in me. Thank you for the courage, humanity and freedom you have given me to express the best version of myself through Tod’s in these years.”
Before Tod’s, the designer worked for years at Bottega Veneta with the brand’s former creative director, Tomas Maier.
Chiapponi was the first creative director with a purview of both the men’s and women’s collections. He succeeded Alessandra Facchinetti, who was in charge of the women’s collections and who in 2016 left the job to the brand’s team, and Andrea Incontri, who was menswear creative director. The latter exited Tod’s at the end of June 2019, after five years.
Chiapponi joined just before COVID-19 struck but helped drive the expansion of Tod’s apparel and accessories businesses. He succeeded in developing understated and nonchalant yet sophisticated luxury collections that reflected the high-end lifestyle and Italian craftsmanship that Tod’s stands for. Mindful of the leather heritage of the brand, he revisited the staple Gommino pebble detail, supersizing it on Tod’s signature moccasins, ballerinas and boots, and further expanded the selection of handbags.
As reported, sales of the Tod’s brand climbed 24.4 percent to 130.2 million euros in the first three months of the year.