Alessandro Michele is the creative director of Valentino

Though it’s been less than a week since Valentino announced veteran designer Pierpaolo Picciolo was leaving the brand, the sands of fashion time have already tumbled on. Rumours of Picciolo’s successor have been swirling for the last couple of days, but in a statement released today, the Italian label confirmed that Alessandro Michele is the new creative director of Valentino.

In the statement released to Vogue Business, Michele said that his appointment is “an incredible honour,” adding, “I feel the immense joy and the huge responsibility to join a Maison de Couture that has the word ‘beauty’ carved on a collective story made of distinctive elegance, refinement, and extreme grace.”