Introduction
Walter Chiapponi is an Italian designer born in Milan in 1978. Before taking a public creative-director role, he worked across Italian and French fashion studios, including Gucci, Valentino, Miu Miu and Bottega Veneta, building a practice around leather, knitwear and ready-to-wear.
Tod’s appointed him creative director of the brand’s women’s and men’s collections on 17 October 2019. He introduced a unified public direction, beginning with Autumn–Winter 2020–21 menswear in January 2020 and womenswear in February, and remained through the Spring–Summer 2024 collections.
After leaving Tod’s by mutual agreement, Chiapponi became creative director of Blumarine in November 2023. He presented one collection, Autumn–Winter 2024, and left in March 2024.
Design ethos
Chiapponi’s design language rests on softened Italian tailoring, tactile leather, knitwear and outerwear that moves between bourgeois polish and informal dress. Familiar archetypes are changed through scale, finish and ease rather than discarded.
At Tod’s this produced washed natural fabrics, concise sportswear silhouettes and repeated revisions of established accessories. Pandemic films foregrounded discussion with artisans and made the house’s collective development process unusually visible; later runway seasons extended that material method into the Winter Gommino, Gommino Bubble, Shirt Bag and final T-Box work.
Disclaimer
Career history
2024
Walter Chiapponi presented his first Blumarine collection on February 23, 2024, marking the house's first major runway reset after Nicola Brognano.
2023
Walter Chiapponi presented his final Tod’s collection at Laboratori Scala Ansaldo on 22 September 2023. The runway closed his unified women’s and men’s direction and was followed by a short in-house studio transition.
2023
Tod’s announced on 12 July 2023 that Walter Chiapponi would leave by mutual agreement after presenting Spring–Summer 2024 womenswear. Public creative work continued through the final runway on 22 September.
2023
Blumarine appointed Walter Chiapponi as creative director. Joined from Tod's. Replaced Nicola Brognano.
2020
Walter Chiapponi presented his first public Tod’s collection, Autumn–Winter 2020–21 menswear, on 12 January 2020. The women’s runway followed in February and completed the first season under his unified remit.
2019
Tod’s appointed Walter Chiapponi creative director of women’s and men’s collections on 17 October 2019. The appointment unified public direction across both categories and began with the Autumn–Winter 2020–21 season.
2016
Walter Chiapponi joined Bottega Veneta in 2016 in a senior ready-to-wear studio role and remained through 2019. The tenure spanned the transition from Tomas Maier to Daniel Lee and should not be described as a creative directorship.
2007
Walter Chiapponi worked at Valentino from around 2007 to 2008 during Alessandra Facchinetti’s tenure. The role was a studio design appointment, not house-level creative direction.
2005
Walter Chiapponi joined Givenchy around 2005 as first assistant to Riccardo Tisci, working across ready-to-wear and couture. He remained in the studio through 2007 before moving to Valentino.
2001
Walter Chiapponi joined Blumarine as design director in 2001, working alongside founder Anna Molinari on the house’s womenswear. He remained through 2005, establishing an earlier connection to the brand nearly two decades before returning as creative director in 2023.
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