Tod’s Names Walter Chiapponi Creative Director

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MILAN — Tod’s Group said Thursday it had appointed Walter Chiapponi creative director of the women’s and men’s collections of the brand. This confirms a WWD report earlier this month. Chiapponi’s first collection will bow with the fall 2020 season.

“Walter Chiapponi is a talented Italian creative who knows and is able to combine Tod’s Italian lifestyle with a touch of modernity, without ever losing sight of the high quality and craftsmanship that represents the brand’s DNA,” said the group’s president Diego Della Valle.

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Chiapponi joins the company after working for years at Bottega Veneta with the brand’s former creative director, Tomas Maier. Carlo Alberto Beretta, a former Bottega Veneta chief executive officer, joined Tod’s in February as general manager of the brand, and is seen as a potential link with Chiapponi.

Chiapponi emphasized Tod’s representation of “excellence in the international panorama of Italian quality and style. Being able to contribute to the development of this Italian lifestyle is, for me, a challenge and a reason to be proud.”

Della Valle last year started a shake-up of the brand’s executive ranks to help push a new strategy and business models of collaborations, introducing the No_Code project, which includes a trademarked “shoeker” — a mix between a shoe and a sneaker, and Tod’s Factory, in a reference to Andy Warhol, and eyeing a younger customer through capsule drops and limited editions. This has led to an overhaul of production, design, marketing and logistics facilities, to which the group’s 5,000 employees, plus another 5,000 to 6,000 “satellite” workers, have had to adapt. After Alessandro Dell’Acqua, Alber Elbaz designed a capsule of accessories under the Tod’s Factory moniker, launched last summer.

Della Valle has been reviewing the role of a creative director of the women’s collections after the exit of Alessandra Facchinetti in 2016, leaving the job to the brand’s team. As reported, after five years, Andrea Incontri left his role as men’s wear creative director of the brand at the end of June.

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