Rochas Splits With Alessandro Dell’Acqua
● The Italian designer will show his last collection for the house in February.
PARIS — Rochas said on Friday it has parted ways with its women’s wear creative director Alessandro Dell’Acqua, who during his six-year tenure updated its couture heritage with his signature mix of glamorous embellishment and graphic tailoring.
Philippe Benacin, chairman and chief executive officer of Rochas parent company Inter Parfums SA, thanked the Italian designer for bringing a “feminine and sophisticated” vision to the historic French fashion house.
“Alessandro did a great performance by reestablishing Rochas as a French modern luxury house with its very colored style, full of details and involving a great attention to fabric,” he said in a statement.
Dell’Acqua, who also designs the No. 21 line shown in Milan, will unveil his last collection for Rochas in February 2020. The house plans to name his replacement at a later date.
The 56-year-old started his career in
1995 with a knitwear line called AA Milano, which later morphed into his signature line. After losing the use of his name and creative control of the brand in 2009, he returned the following year with No. 21, a premium contemporary line named after his birthday on Dec. 21.
He has also designed for La Perla, Borbonese, Malo, Brioni and Les Copains, and last year created a one-off capsule collection for Tod’s.
No. 21, which is 30 percent owned by Italian fashion manufacturing company
Gilmar SpA, is expected to return to the Milan men’s wear calendar in January after going coed last September. Meanwhile, Rochas will show on the Paris men’s calendar for the first time with its Rochas Homme line, designed by Federico Curradi.
Inter Parfums bought the Rochas fashion and fragrance activity from Procter & Gamble Co. in 2015 for $108 million.
The deal marked a first step into fashion for the Paris-based subsidiary of Inter Parfums Inc., of New York, whose stable of licensed fragrance brands includes Montblanc, Boucheron, Jimmy Choo and Van Cleef & Arpels. The company owns Lanvin’s perfume and cosmetics business.
Founded in 1925 by Marcel Rochas, the house was under the creative direction of Marco Zanini from 2008 to 2013 and Olivier Theyskens from 2002 to 2006, when the fashion line was momentarily shuttered.