Walter Chiapponi is the next creative director of Blumarine

Blumarine has a new creative director, he is Walter Chiapponi, who recently left his position as creative director of Tod's and who, after bidding farewell to Nicola Brognano, will present his next collection next February in Milan. Walter Chiapponi's path in the industry has been nothing less than extraordinary: if his talent has been in the public eye since he took the reins at Tod's in October 2019, the designer had started his career right at Blumarine, distinguishing himself as a design director to the point of being called to assist Riccardo Tisci at Givenchy before returning to Italy and working at the highest levels at Valentino, Gucci and Miu Miu. Finally, before joining Tod's, Chiapponi directed the design studio of Bottega Veneta. It was all experience that led Chiapponi to turn Tod's aesthetics around by reinterpreting iconic details such as the Gommino, enlarging it on moccasins and expanding the handbag collection.

Walter Chiapponi's arrival at Blumarine is bound to bring an aesthetic change to the brand after Nicola Brognano's Y2K wave that had worked in rejuvenating the brand's image. It is also crucial to understand the context in which Blumarine is evolving. The brand became part of Italian entrepreneur Marco Marchi's EIH Eccellenze Italiane group in November 2019, hoping to take the brand's sales beyond €50 million. According to Milano Finanza, the target would have been met and exceeded with the group surpassing 500 million in revenue for fiscal year 2022. Here is what Marchi said last February: «The company is constantly growing. It has an important history behind it, but the rejuvenation operation, which is part of creative director Nicola Brognano’s vision, has paid off. Today the brand winks at Gen Z and Millennials. There is still some work to do, we believe we are on the right track. Overall, we are satisfied by the results, so I am happy with this acquisition». Marchi's vision is to increase the visibility and business of small and medium-sized Italian companies on the global stage. Blumarine's recent collaborations with brands such as Heaven by Marc Jacobs and Suicoke, as well as luxury retailer Modes, demonstrate the forward-looking approach taken by Marchi in repositioning the historic brand.

Photo Credit: Julia Von Der Heide