Italian luxury brand Tod’s defied financial analysts forecasts, booking a 40% increase in revenues to 883.8 million euros ($997 million) in 2021. This was the first increase in sales since 2015, boosted by strong fourth-quarter growth in Europe and the United States. This good news catches our attention because major sales increases in the luxury market aren’t being driven by Europe.

Walter Chiapponi at Tod’s

Analysts haven’t yet credited Tod’s creative director Walter Chiapponi for the sales performance, but the topic should be front and center in Tod’s talk. The Italian luxury market veteran — who showed his first collection for the House in February 2020 for fall/winter 2020 — is Tod’s first creative director to be responsible for men’s and women’s fashion as well as leather goods.

“I think it’s a matter of maturity,” the soft-spoken designer told the press about his Tod’s arrival. “When you’ve been creative in a very extreme way for so long, you want to do something more grounded, more elegant, more sophisticated. I’m in my 40s, and now I really detest seeing [fashion] that gets old in a few weeks.”

Tod's shares a denim jacket from the pre-fall 2022 collection.

Tod’s Pre-Fall 2022 Lookbook

Walter Chiapponi’s pre-fall 2022 lookbook caught AOC’s eye. Model Kathie Lam is styled by Margherita Moro, then lensed by Anton Gottlob [IG]. / Hair by Massimo Gamba; makeup by Tanja Friscic

Chiapponi described his Tod’s assignment as one of updating traditional Italian casualwear with what he calls “a dirtier, more modern take on bon ton.” Tod’s gains an inner wild child and a bit of edge without disrupting their core identity of bourgeois propriety.

The new creative director supports strongly Tod’s commitment to responsible sustainability practices. Beyond using certified organic fabrics, Chiapponi presented “a new furry texture, lining an oversized sweatshirt/bomber hybrid. Made with a yarn woven from the upper and fluffier part of the fleece of the sheep, which is not harmed when shearing, it was extra-soft to the touch.” via Vogue