Valentino's new series creates the right direction

Valentino's founder, Valentino Garavani, has been in charge of the company for nearly half a century. Under his efforts, Valentino's red evening dress has always been a highlight at social events such as the Oscars and the Cannes Film Festival. He also finally retired last year.

His successor, Alexandra Facchinetti, who had been in office for less than a year but eventually lost his voice, was replaced by company colleagues Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli.

Last month, the company released a skirt featuring frills and bows at the 2010 spring-summer fashion show in Paris.

CEO Stefano Sassi told reporters at a fashion event on November 3rd, “The media has received rave reviews for this series.”

“We are very satisfied with this because it represents a new vision that Valentino has been pursuing – individuality, self-characteristic, and at the same time closely related to the history of Valentino, but novel and unique and unconventional.”

"It is not easy to find the right direction of development. I believe that as long as we persevere, we must have unlimited future."

Stefano Sassi also said that this series also won the praise of buyers at the same time, in the wholesale sales have also improved.

However, he believes that "the stable development of the market will still take time."

U.S. consultancy Bain & Co expects global luxury sales to fall by 8% this year - at a fixed exchange rate it is 11% - that is 153 billion euros (equivalent to 223.8 billion U.S. dollars). The reason is that the economic crisis has greatly reduced the consumer demand for branded clothing, jewelry and watches.

Valentino belongs to Valentino Fashion Group. The group's brands also include Hugo Boss and Marlboro. The company was acquired by private equity group Permira in 2007.