Fashion Wire Daily - Paris - Malo has named Alessandro Dell'Acqua to be its new creative director, in a clear change in direction for the Italian luxury knits label.
Dell'Acqua, 45, will present his first collection for Malo this September in Milan, for the spring/summer 2009 season.
"I feel flattered by the trust that this appointment implies. I believe very firmly in Malo's projects and I am happy to bring my experience and dedication," Dell'Acqua said in a release.
The Naples born Dell'Acqua succeeds Tommaso Aquilano and Roberto Rimondi, a duo known as 6267, who left Malo in April to become the new creative directors Gianfranco Ferre. Both Gianfranco Ferre and Malo are owned by Italian fashion consortium IT Holding.
Dell'Acqua presented his first prêt-a-porter collection at Milan in 1996 and his first men's line at in Florence in January 1998 at Pitti, the giant salon that is men's wear biggest trade show.
"We were looking for a Creative Director capable of keeping Malo on its path," said Malo CEO Vittorio Notarpietro.
"Alessandro Dell'Acqua gives us a guarantee of continuity and consistency with the values and standards that have always marked out this extraordinary brand," Notarpietro added.
Known for his flirty, seductive fashion that is not afraid to push the boundaries in terms of sheer fabrics or revealing cut and silhouette Dell'Acqua is, nonetheless, sure to usher in a new era at Malo, primarily a cashmere and knits brand.
Under Aquilano and Rimondi won critical kudos for their cool reinterpretation of Malo, garnering positive reviews from their runway shows, which in the past few years have been staged in New York.
A highly experienced designer, Dell'Acqua has created collections for such big market labels as Genny, Iceberg, Les Copains and Mariella Burani.
Alessandro has also successfully married art and fashion, designing all the shoes for Vanessa Beecroft's happening VB46 in the Gagosian Gallery in Los Angeles - the only items the models wore in that event.
His motto, "every woman should be desired," stems from his youth spent watching the golden period of Italian cinema and its screen goddesses Sophia Loren, Monica Vitti and Anna Magnani.
So, expect Malo to move from cerebral to seductive in the near future.
