Tod's focuses on high-end products without a chief designer

Italy’s Tod’s will press ahead without a chief designer, Group’ Chairman Diego Della Valle said on Friday after its Spring Summer 2018 catwalk show in Milan.

The luxury group said in August it would make short-term sacrifices in margins and revenues in pursuit of medium-term growth as it decided to turn away from fashion to focus on higher-end products.

“We think that the role of the stylist as once conceived is now an old concept. Today it is about many projects, limited edition collections... style is in movement,” Della Valle told reporters.

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He added that fashion houses had to think more like fashion editors “who every year have to think of 12 different cover pages... also in fashion the world has changed and you have to come up with something new each month.”

As luxury groups have been coming under pressure from increasingly younger clients to present more collections during the year, Della Valle has repeatedly said that the company would engage in different strategies aiming at both “traditional and new clients”, increasing products offered and investing in technology more alongside traditional retail shops.

The company has already launched different one-off capsule collections, including a collaboration with celebrity Italian influencer Chiara Ferragni and designs for Yoox Net-a-Porter.

Its “Italian Dream collection” showcased in the elegant frame of Milan’s Modern Art Museum, with models parading designs in earthy tones of brown, black and cream.

The collection included suede details, casual double breasted blazers, leather tops and jackets and models carried different styles of handbags and clutches, one of the key products for the Italian group.

“With the sun shining on your face, closed eyes, if you think of Italian style it’s a horizon of dreams ahead of you,” a style note said.