Blumarine said it has appointed Walter Chiapponi as its new creative director. WWD first reported last month that sources believed Chiapponi was joining the Italian brand. His first Blumarine collection will bow in February during Milan Fashion Week.
The Milanese designer was previously creative director of Tod’s, exiting in September after the brand’s womenswear spring 2024 show.
“I am confident that Walter Chiapponi, with his internationally recognized talent and his fine stylistic sensibility, will bring new energy to Blumarine while honoring the brand’s extraordinary heritage,” said Marco Marchi, sole director of Eccellenze Italiane, the holding company that owns Blumarine. “I am proud to write a new and important chapter with Walter.”
“I am delighted to have been appointed creative director of an iconic Italian brand that has outlined over time an idea of femininity that is defined by lightness and creativity,” said Chiapponi. “The possibility of contributing to establishing a new phase for Blumarine is for me an opportunity to embrace new thrilling and important horizons, to expand my vision and to restore sense to artistic expression.”
Chiapponi joined Tod’s in October 2019, in charge of the women’s and men’s collections for the brand. His first collection bowed with the fall 2020 season. After studying at the European Institute of Design, he started his career in the late 1990s with Alessandro Dell’Acqua and then collaborated with Givenchy, Valentino, Gucci, Miu Miu, and Bottega Veneta with then-creative director Tomas Maier.
At Tod’s, Chiapponi succeeded in developing understated, nonchalant yet sophisticated luxury collections that reflected the high-end lifestyle and Italian craftsmanship that Tod’s stands for. He revisited the brand’s staple Gommino pebble detail, supersizing it on Tod’s signature moccasins, ballerinas and boots, and further expanded the selection of handbags — leather and accessories being the label’s core business.
Brognano was appointed creative director of Blumarine at the end of 2019, right after its parent company Blufin moved under the control of Italian entrepreneur Marco Marchi’s EIH Eccellenze Italiane group. Tapped by Marchi to revamp the storied Italian fashion house, known for its feminine romanticism, Brognano imprinted a strong Y2K aesthetic, bringing Blumarine back into the spotlight, especially among younger generations. As reported, a menswear counterpart was added in 2019. The label was eventually put on hold when Brognano joined Blumarine.