After being named creative director of Valentino this past spring, Alessandro Michele had just two months to prepare for resort 2025. On Sunday, the designer presented his inaugural show for the Roman house. Who wasn’t waiting? It was a shock to see him exit Gucci earlier this year, and those who adore his singular eccentric maximalism and gender-fluid designs were patiently anticipating this first proper performance. The show took place on a mirrored, broken-glass floor in a candlelit room filled with statues and chairs covered in sheets, calling to mind a grand home long abandoned. The designer has always had a talent for setting the scene. Enter Jared Leto, Florence Welch, and Harry Styles, and the mood—dreamy, transportive, very Michele—was well-defined.
The collection drew from the ’20s, ’30s, ’60s, ’80s and beyond, taking inspiration from the Valentino archives in a way only Michele could achieve. Simply put, it had all of the cinematic flare we’d hoped for (and expected) from the creative. Dainty, exquisitely detailed looks in vibrant, flamboyant colors came full of cascading ruffles, lace moments, silver embroidery, and micro-polka dots. A navy blazer with a deep cut, worn with nothing underneath and tied with a large, delicate red bow in place of a button; an emerald-green, bead-embellished gown with an extensive fur trim; otherworldly, almost gossamer chiffon dresses—these were a few of the time-traveling garments. Radiant ballooning purple pants were followed by a drop waist, black and white top with striped bow after bow. Each piece was a statement, made more so with characteristically lavish styling. Romance was in great supply.
Michele suggested that the collection is a contemplation of beauty, an “irruption of the light that protects us from the grey of senselessness,” in his words. The hope was to take us past our own fragility, escaping existential crisis by way of gorgeous—beautiful—opulence. To many eyes, this new offering isn’t all that different from Michele’s Gucci. But if the vision stands alone, does it need to be?
