According to an article published by Journal du Luxe, Sabato De Sarno would become the new artistic director of Icicle, a Chinese house founded in Shanghai in 1997 with a dual structure between Shanghai and Paris. The brand claims more than 200 stores worldwide.
According to the same source, the appointment would come a few months after Kering took a minority stake in the ICCF group, the owner of Icicle. When the deal was announced last April, the French group stated its ambition to support Icicle's new phase of development and to expand its offering into new product categories.
A career marked by Valentino and Gucci
Sabato De Sarno is said to have spent 14 years at Valentino alongside Pierpaolo Piccioli, where he became the house's fashion director, overseeing both the men's and women's collections. In 2023, he was appointed artistic director of Gucci, before leaving the house in February 2025, after 19 months in the role, as Gucci still struggled to revive its commercial momentum despite the change in creative direction.
An organisation shared with the Paris studio
According to Journal du Luxe, Bénédicte Laloux, who has headed the Paris creative studio since 2013, would remain in charge of the women's collection and would work under Sabato De Sarno's supervision. The designer's first collection for Icicle would be presented for autumn-winter 2027-2028.
