Amidst all of the Men’s Fashion Week excitement came a shocking press release from Alessandro Dell’Acqua via his public relations firm on Friday, June 19th. The designer released a statement saying that the Men’s Spring/Summer 2010 and Women’s pre-spring 2010 collections will be produced without his approval as, he says, he has not “had the possibility to verify the conformity of the final product to the sketches I submitted to the company.”
The designer – whose collections are distributed and produced by Cherry Grove which acquired his namesake brand and its trademarks in 2003 – is clearly taking steps to distance himself as a result of his lack of creative control. This leaves us, naturally, wondering whether a split is imminent. Cherry Grove is run by financier Claude Arpels, who has yet to formally respond to Dell’Acqua’s statement.
The release’s full transcript, via Fashion Week Daily, is below:
Milan, June 19th 2009
Dear All,
I would like to inform you that the Alessandro Dell’Acqua Men’s Spring-Summer 2010 and Women’s Pre-spring 2010 collections will be produced without my approval, as I haven’t had the possibility to verify the conformity of the final product to the sketches I submitted to the company.
The brand which carries my name has always been consistent with my style but in this case, despite their formal assurance, Cherry Grove, the company who produces and distributes the Alessandro Dell’Acqua women’s and men’s collections, decided to move forward without having me, the designer, check on the quality of the product.
I believe that the involvement and agreement among all parts concerned with the brand, especially the designer who has been working for it with constant dedication since the very beginning, is a fundamental element under any circumstance, even the most problematic one.
I had would rather have asked for your collaboration, so precious along all these years, but because of this imposed inability to guarantee the quality of the final product and in order to protect the other licensees of the brand, I have to detach myself from these two collections that have not been approved by me and that I don’t acknowledge as realization of my creations.
Best regards,
Alessandro Dell’Acqua
Images courtesy of the Fashion Spot forums.
