Alessandro Michele Channels the Maestro and the Maximalist for Valentino

20 June 2024

VALENTINO SPRING 25. Courtesy VALENTINO

Describing Valentino in 2008 for the prologue to his self-titled book, designer and founder Valentino Garavani distinguished his house as being much like a “story with the same protagonist.” While its elements and themes may evolve, “the woman behind the pleats, the embroideries [and] bows”, as he shared, “remains the same.”

Alessandro Michele’s Resort 2025 collection for Valentino, his first collection since assuming the title of creative director earlier this year, involved a cast of 171 characters, or looks, in a myriad of variations—all of which were singular in their orientation. Amongst the ensemble cast, there was what looked to be a tourist, a freshman (on exchange), a benefactress, someone who looked to, perhaps, have sought counsel from Maharishi Yogi (with the tasselled poncho to prove it); others blended chic with a touch of dowdiness, but never crossed into frowsiness.

Departing from Garavani’s concept of a ‘protagonist’, Michele applied a maximalist aesthetic, which he refined during his seven-year tenure at Gucci. This aesthetic was set against Valentino’s 1960s Dolce Vita era—a reference to Federico Fellini’s 1960 film of the same name—and the imagery of the 1970’s campaigns captured by photographers Deborah Turbeville and Henry Clarke.

The core of the collection offered neat separates such as a skirt suit ‘the colour of Devon cream’ that was accessorised with ropes of pearls, brooches, and a pillbox hat that could be pulled directly from the much-gazetted Spring/Summer 1968 White Collection. The following outfit (look 4) was a peach baby doll dress in chiffon with a frilled bib and bishop’s sleeve and all the saccharine of the 1972 Spring/Summer range. Here, Michele offered similar pleated and crepe georgette with the addition of Valenciennes lace—something that the Roman designer explored as a trim in later looks.

One look showcased Valentino’s use of deep black and velvety whites, featuring a cape in a macro tweed-like pattern of clashing houndstooth, a tiered skirt, and jumbo beads pouring down the neckline. Houndstooth reappears in another ensemble, this time as a more offbeat pairing with trousers in Prince of Wales check, a knit vest in a 1970’s monogram type print, and a silk fringed scarf tied around the forehead.

Jackets and coats with fur-trimmed cuffs, often in an all-over print like leopard, called to mind a self-assured, active and contemporary woman, as incarnated by American citified coteries Jayne Wrightsman, Jackie Kennedy Onassis, or the Italian Princess Luciana Pignatelli.

Each look in the collection was accessorised (maybe over-accessorised) with hosiery, jewellery, hats, and scarves, and outfitted in a way that allowed each model to transform into a fully realised character. Although this was a type of identity creation, it also resulted in a lack of cohesion.

It is impossible to determine whether this collection was created under the aegis of the house’s founder, who possessed a virtuoso hand that made him a key figure in the alta moda. It might be more accurate to say that Michele has chosen to channel the role of a maestro, building his own stage, casting his own orchestra, and constructing his own elaborate storyline.