Gucci creative director Alessandro Michele steps down

Alessandro Michele has stepped down as Gucci’s creative director after almost eight years, a period that saw him help revive and transform the Italian label’s fortunes.

Announcing the decision Wednesday, the luxury house’s parent company, Kering, said the 49-year-old designer had “played a fundamental part in making the brand what it is today.”

The conglomerate’s chairman and CEO, François-Henri Pinault, added in a statement: “The road that Gucci and Alessandro walked together over the past years is unique and will remain as an outstanding moment in the history of the House… His passion, his imagination, his ingenuity and his culture put Gucci center stage, where its place is.”

Having joined Gucci as a handbag designer, and with no experience helming a major label, Michele was a surprise appointment to the top job in 2015. But with the brand’s relevance seemingly in decline, he instigated a major overhaul of its identity, eschewing the overtly sexy aesthetic pioneered by predecessor Tom Ford in favor of a more whimsical aesthetic dubbed “geek chic.”

Michele then ushered in an era of colorful, maximalist designs, reimaginging Renaissance art through fashion and hosting elaborate runway shows at historic venues. He embraced the opulent heritage of a brand that last year celebrated its centenary, even naming one of his best-known designs — the Dionysus handbag — after the Greek god of wine.