Photo: Penske Media via Getty Images
After ten years as creative director, Francesco Risso is leaving Marni.
Risso came to Marni as a relative unknown after an eight-year stint in the design studio at Prada. Back then, Marni was known for its playfulness — bright, boisterous colors and reinterpreted, unorthodox silhouettes. In many ways, Risso continued that tradition. Under him, the brand became more eclectic, more colorful, and somehow always charming. The Cut’s former fashion writer Matthew Schneier called Risso’s Marni “a colorful corrective to fashion’s pervasive self-seriousness.”
In a press release, Risso said, “Marni has been a studio, a stage, a dream. It carried color, instinct, care, and gave space for people to be themselves. It taught me how to build with feeling and how powerful true collaboration can be … here’s to more extraordinary journeys ahead!”
This move marks the third time in the past year that the brand’s parent company, OTB, has shifted designers around at its renowned labels, including Jil Sander (formerly helmed by Lucie and Luke Meier, now under Simone Bellotti) and Maison Margiela (previously led by John Galliano, now by Glenn Martens). There is no word on where Risso will land next, but fashion’s current openings include Fendi, which Kim Jones left in October; Carven; and Proenza Schouler.
OTB has yet to announce Risso’s successor. Designers Hedi Slimane, Luke and Lucie Meier, and Maria Grazia Chiuri are currently still untethered to a brand. Let’s see how this shifts the ever-evolving designer musical chairs.
