Someone asked me on Friday if I suspected that Pierpaolo Piccioli was leaving Valentino. I guess there have been plenty of hints, going back to last summer, when Kering took a 30 percent stake in the business from the Qatari-backed investment fund Mayhoola, with an option of acquiring the whole company by 2028. Piccioli wasn’t mentioned in that official announcement—he only appeared in passing at the bottom of the press release, in the “About Valentino” section. His all-black collection, shown in March, also seemed to be filled with enigmatic clues. Was he in mourning? Was he presenting Valentino, where he’s worked for the past 25 years, with a clean slate? Was he screwing the sales team over by draining the vibrancy from the clothes? Or was Piccioli, a master colorist, simply conceding to the fact that everyone wants to wear black right now?

Who knows. I’ve heard that Piccioli, like many designers, wants to direct movies, so maybe he’s ready to do that. After all, the accessories-driven, global business that Valentino is in—and that Kering and Mayhoola want it to be—is not Piccioli’s natural provenance. He’s a fashion designer, not a designer-marketer hybrid. Regardless, it’s probably time for C.E.O. Jacopo Venturini to bring on a new creative partner.