MILAN – Valentino is shining the sunshine on its menswear category by breaking away from the student format of the past three years and staging a dedicated fashion show in Milan.

Dubbed Valentino The Narratives, the show can be held on June 16 at 2.00 pm CET on the Università degli Studi di Milano Statale. The event will kick off Milan Fashion Week, scheduled to run until June 20.

While the ladies’s and couture collections have been traditionally unveiled in Paris, this move is definitely a return to the home’s roots, as founder Valentino Garavani staged his first menswear show in Milan in January 1985.

The Narratives can be streamed live to tell the tale Valentino.com and thru the home’s social channels, and the university’s students will have the option to experience the show on site, reflecting creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli’s aim to be increasingly inclusive and to succeed in out to younger generations.

Through the pandemic, Piccioli staged the Valentino Collezione Milano and Valentino Act Collection in Milan.

Piccioli and Valentino’s chief executive officer Jacopo Venturini have been specializing in boosting the brand’s menswear visibility and significance over the past few seasons, through special initiatives and partnering with influential brand ambassadors reminiscent of much-loved member of the BTS boy band Suga, joining the corporate’s ambassadors called Di.Vas, an acronym that stands for Different Values, in addition to Formula 1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton and singer Li Ronghao.

In 2022, the home launched the Maison Valentino Essentials, a choice of timeless yet constantly evolving staples, as codes of Piccioli’s creative vision, and the project will proceed through this 12 months.

Venturini told WWD last month that menswear last 12 months represented 14 percent of sales, and that he sees “great opportunities” on this segment. When asked about gender-fluid designs embraced by Piccioli potentially losing steam, the manager didn’t see any comparison or conflict.

Other luxury brands, from Gucci and Versace to Givenchy and Moschino, have been moving away from the student format, where often womenswear designs distract the eye from the lads’s looks.

There are 75 Valentino stores that carry men’s and ladies’s collections, and 25 menswear-dedicated boutiques. Of those, 21 are shop-in-shops.

The distribution of menswear can be further prolonged next 12 months in cities reminiscent of Paris and Shanghai, Nagoya, Wuhan and Recent York, to call just a few.

As reported, within the 12 months ended Dec. 31, sales on the Rome-based couture house reached 1.42 billion euros, climbing 15 percent compared with 1.23 billion euros in 2021.

Within the 12 months ended Dec. 31, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, including the IFRS 16 impact, amounted to 337 million euros, up 18 percent in comparison with 2021. Operating profit totaled 121 million euros, climbing 30 percent compared with 2021.