Alessandro Michele has quit his role as creative director of Gucci after almost eight years.
Alessandro Michele leaves Gucci after 20 years
The 49-year-old designer started working at the Italian fashion luxury house in 2002 and has held the top job since January 2015 but announced on Wednesday (23.11.22) that he is to leave the brand as he thanked the company for helping his dreams come true.
He wrote on Instagram: "There are times when paths part ways because of the different perspectives each one of us may have. Today an extraordinary journey ends for me, lasting more than twenty years, within a company to which I have tirelessly dedicated all my love and creative passion. During this long period Gucci has been my home, my adopted family. To this extended family, to all the individuals, who have looked after and supported it, I send my most sincere thanks, my biggest and most heartfelt embrace. Together with them I have wished, dreamed, imagined. Without them, none of what I have built would have been possible.
"To them goes my most sincerest wish: may you continue to cultivate your dreams, the subtle and intangible matter that makes life worth living. May you continue to nourish yourselves with poetic and inclusive imagery, remaining faithful to your values. May you always live by your passions, propelled by the wind of freedom
Following the news, CEO and Gucci president Marco Bizzarri paid tribute to his former colleague as he thanked him for his "devotion" and "unconditional love" for the fashion house.
In a statement, he said: "I was fortunate to have had the opportunity to meet Alessandro at the end of 2014, since then we have had the pleasure to work closely together as Gucci has charted its successful path over these last eight years. I would like to thank him for his 20 years of commitment to Gucci and for his vision, devotion and unconditional love for this unique house during his tenure as creative director."