The Stefano Pilati-ssance Is Just Beginning
Stefano Pilati never left, but he's back in a big way.
The Italian designer — who served as creative director at Yves Saint Laurent from 2004 to 2011 — has revealed plans to launch his own eponymous brand, as well as reboot Random Identities, the gender-fluid fashion label he introduced in 2017.
Since its inception, Random Identities has had an on-and-off presence. After taking a two-year hiatus during the pandemic, the brand relaunched in 2023 with the help of Dover Street Market, one of its major stockists.
Now, Pilati plans to double down on the label's growth by introducing beauty and accessories.
That's not all: He also told WWD that he will eventually launch a Stefano Pilati brand, too.
To help him execute his ambitions, Pilati has appointed a new CEO of Stefano Pilati Studio: Mario Grauso, whose résumé includes stints at Puig, Joe Fresh, and CELINE.
Fashion insiders have suspected that Pilati had something up his sleeve since early September, when the designer wiped his Instagram account and began posting images of his work from YSL. Some hypothesized he would join one of the major fashion houses currently seeking a creative director — now, that seems unlikely as Pilati focuses on growing his own business.
While Pilati might be a legend among industry insiders, he's less recognizable to the general style-conscious public. But his profile has slowly grown over the last year: In 2023, he guest-designed a collection for Fendi and walked the runway at Pharrell's Louis Vuitton debut. Later that year, he modeled for Shayne Oliver's Anonymous Club.
And earlier this month, Zara announced a Pilati-designed capsule collection, soon to be revealed at Paris Fashion Week.
Pilati isn't the only fashion heavyweight to break major news. Last week, Haider Ackermann joined Tom Ford as creative director and on Monday, Sarah Burton was tapped to lead Givenchy.
