Rochas and Alessandro Dell'Acqua part ways

By

Dominique Muret

Published
Dec 6, 2019

After six years, the fruitful collaboration between Rochas and Alessandro Dell'Acqua has come to an end. The contract between the Interparfums-owned brand and the Neapolitan-designer, who has been responsible for its women's ready-to-wear line since 2013, will not be extended, a source close to the house told FashionNetwork.com. Presented in Paris in September, Dell'Acqua's last collection for the brand was an unexpected offering, saturated in energetic colour. The name of his successor has not yet been revealed. 

 
Appointed as the creative director of the label's womenswear in September 2013, the designer unveiled his first collection for Rochas in Paris in February 2014. His hyper-feminine and sophisticated style was the ideal match for the Rochas spirit, and he was able to update the couture house's codes, while also conserving its sober and refined aristocratic elegance, leading his contract to be extended three years later, in 2016.

The prolific 56-year-old designer began his career when he was relatively young, starting out as creative director of Genny at the age of only 23. Since then, he was worked at La Perla, Brioni, Malo and Les Copains, and last year signed off on a collaboration with Tod's. Three years ago, Dell'Acqua also made waves through a collaboration with Kartell, producing a rubber sandal featuring a large bow, dubbed the Knot, which proved to be a massive hit.

From now on, Dell'Acqua is hoping to dedicate more time to his own house, N°21, which he launched in 2010, having lost the rights to his first namesake brand, founded in 1996. In just under 10 years, his women's ready-to-wear brand, 30% of which is owned by Gilmar, has experienced a boom, achieving annual revenues of close to 60 million euros. Launched in 2014, the brand's menswear line was presented alongside its womenswear in September, but will take part in the Milan men's calendar in January. According to industry sources, the brand is in search of new investors in order to accelerate its development. 

Founded by Marcel Rochas in 1925, Rochas' previous creative directors include Olivier Theyskens, who stepped into the role in 2002, and Marco Zanini, who took over in 2008. It was at this time that management of the brand's women's ready-to-wear line was licensed out to Onward Luxury Group (OLG), the eponymous Japanese group's Milan-based luxury subsidiary. As for the brand, it was acquired by American conglomerate Procter & Gamble in 2003, before returning to France as part of Interparfums in 2015. 
 
The Rochas menswear line was relaunched in 2017 and has also been operated through a license with Onward Luxury Group since January 2019. Designed by Federico Curradi, the line will make its Parisian runway debut next January.