Walter chiaponi, a Bottega Veneta designer, has joined the TOD's design team and may be the team leader, the women's Daily quoted people familiar with the matter as saying. He has worked with Tomas Maier, former creative director of Bottega Veneta, for many years.

Tod's did not respond to the news at present, but the potential connection between the personnel changes of the two Italian luxury brands added credibility to the news. In February, Carlo Alberto Beretta, former CEO of Bottega Veneta, became general manager of TOD's brand.

In addition, given that TOD's transformation plan has not been effective, and the brand development shows a state of bottleneck, the appointment of a new creative head may be one of the effective solutions.

Tod's spring / summer 2020

In recent years, the popularity of social media and online channels, and the emergence of millennials as the main force of luxury consumption have urged many major changes in the fashion industry. Each fashion house is riveted with its own moves. Gucci's turning red is a perfect example. And the old fashion houses that didn't keep up with the changes of market demand also fell behind very fast, Tod's is one of them.

As for this project, Chinese consumers are familiar with the capsule series that Mr. Bao, the fashion blogger, and Tod's cooperated for many times, with good sales feedback every time.

But more than a year after the implementation of the transformation plan, Tod's group is still in a period of pain.

In the first half of the year ended June 30, the group's sales fell 4.7% year-on-year to 454.6 million euros, with a net loss of 6 million euros, the first loss recorded by the group in nearly five years. The sales volume of the core brand TOD's fell 9.7% to 231 million euros year on year, and it has recorded a decline for 13 consecutive quarters.

Among the top brands in the group, such as TOD's, Roger Vivier, Hogan and Fay, only Roger Vivier continued to record growth, with its sales increasing 11.6% to 43.9 million euros year on year.

According to Diego Della Valle, the main reasons for the decline are higher than expected transformation costs, weak wholesale channels, and more and more luxury brands giving priority to the development of leather and footwear products, leading to fierce competition. The biggest challenge, he said, is to reach young consumers. He believes that the transformation is moving in the expected direction and needs more time.

But consumers and investors may lose patience by waiting too long. Some analysts have pointed out that the gradual transformation strategy of TOD's group is too slow. If it fails to make more effective decisions, it may be forced to sell. In October last year, there was news that TOD's group might be acquired, but it was denied.

Tod's brand is famous for its classic Doudou shoes, but for a long time, the products are still relatively single. Armanda hadida, founder of the l'eclaireur chain, the first to sell TOD's in Paris, told Reuters: "it lacks innovation and differentiation, and customers need an updated experience."

Maybe it's time for TOD's to choose a creative director again, and Bottega Veneta turned the tide with this method. The design of the new Daniel Lee has transformed the brand from a boring woven bag to a "netred" brand, ranking the first tier of popular luxury brands.

In contrast, Tod's, since May 2016, when Alessandra facchinetti, the creative director of women's wear for three years, left the position vacant, Diego Della Valle left this part of the work to the brand team. He has said that the position of creative director in the traditional sense is no longer needed. At the end of June this year, Andrea incontri, the creative director of men's wear, also left his post. Currently, there is no replacement.