MILAN – Valentino‘s chief executive officer Jacopo Venturini has exited the couture house. His last day was Wednesday.

On Thursday, Valentino said it had reached a mutual agreement with Venturini to terminate his employment and board roles as the executive “has decided to take a break for personal reasons.”

Sources close to the company say Alessandro Michele is staying on in his role as creative director. A source said the company is “confirming full trust and commitment” in the designer. Michele’s next collection for the brand will be unveiled in Paris for spring 2026 with a show on Oct. 5. In March 2024, former Gucci creative director Michele was appointed to the same role at Valentino, succeeding Pierpaolo Piccioli, who in May joined Balenciaga.

A successor was not named but “will be announced in due course,” Valentino stated.

Venturini was named new chief executive officer in June  2020. He succeeded Stefano Sassi, who had been leading the company since 2006.

Venturini was previously executive vice president, merchandising and global markets at Gucci, a role he left in October last year, but this is a return to Valentino for the executive. After starting his career in fashion at Rinascente as a buyer from 1995 to 1999, he joined Valentino in 2000 as women’s wear and men’s wear brand manager until 2004.

He moved to Prada in 2005 as merchandising coordinator of the women’s wear collection until 2008. That year he returned to Valentino as ready-to-wear collection director and retail image director, staying on until 2015, when he joined Gucci.

Upon his arrival, Venturini restructured the company’s organization and focused on repositioning the brand as an Italian maison de couture, which meant for example closing sister brand Red Valentino. He set in motion a retail expansion, seeing at the time growth potential in Mainland China. He presented the first leg of the brand’s Re-Signify project, to highlight Valentino’s codes, in Shanghai in December 2020. The second part of the brand experience opened the following year at SKP in Beijing.

As reported, in 2024, Valentino sales dipped 3 perecent to 1.31 billion euros amidst “a challenging and complex landscape,” said the company at the time.

The Rome-based company reported a 22 percent fall in its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization to 246 million euros, affected by “non-recurring items.”

At constant exchange rates, the decrease stood at 2 percent, while the Roman fashion house trumpeted that its direct retail, including e-commerce, improved 5 percent last year and represented 70 percent of revenues.

In July 2023, Kering revealed it had bought a 30 percent stake in Valentino for 1.7 billion euros in cash as part of a broader strategic partnership with Qatari investment fund Mayhoola, which controls the brand. The French group, parent of Gucci, Saint Laurent, Balenciaga and other luxury brands, has an option to buy 100 percent of Valentino’s capital by 2028, while Mayhoola could become a shareholder in Kering.

In a research note last month, Bernstein analyst Luca Solca said Renault executive Luca de Meo, who will arrive as Kering’s new chief executive officer in mid-September, must curb Kering‘s elevated debt levels, and perhaps “negotiate a larger ‘equity for Valentino’ deal with Mayhoola.”

According to Bernstein’s tallies, Kering will need up to 3.4 billion euros in cash to pay for the remaining 70 percent. Solca also suggested de Meo should fix the management operation, and foresees “less of a need” for Kering’s deputy CEOs Francesca Bellettini, in charge of brand development, and Jean-Marc Duplaix, in charge of operations and finance. Market sources speculate Bellettini could be eyeing other career options and her name has been associated with several brands currently without a CEO, from Prada, after the exit of Gianfranco D’Attis on June 30, to Ferragamo, following Marco Gobbetti’s departure last March. Could Valentino be an option?