On February 20th, TOD'S announced that Alessandra Facchinetti had been appointed creative director of the women's collection, succeeding Derek Lam, who retired on September 30th, 2012. Facchinetti was born in Bergamo, near Milan, Italy, in 1972. The daughter of a rock star, she studied art, sculpture, and architecture before studying fashion at the prestigious Istituto Marangoni in Milan. She then gained experience at various luxury brands, becoming designer and brand coordinator for Miu Miu in 1994 and women's wear design director for Gucci in the Gucci Group in 2000. After working under Tom Ford, she became women's wear designer in 2004. In 2006, he launched Moncler's luxury line, GAMME ROUGE, and from 2008, he was responsible for the ready-to-wear and haute couture collections at Valentino for two seasons. In 2010, he co-founded the online-only label Uniqueness with Pietro Negra, founder of Pinko, but left the label to join Tod's. Facchinetti's first Tod's collection will be shown at Milan Fashion Week in September 2013. "As an Italian designer, I feel deeply honored to have the opportunity to play such an important role in such a globally renowned brand, known for its unparalleled quality and sophistication," Facchinetti said in a statement.