Alessandro Michele has never been one for restraint. His Fall/Winter 2025 show, which unfolded on Sunday inside an oversized set box installed in front of Paris’ Institut du Monde Arabe, was yet another maximalist spectacle.

Titled Le Méta-Théâtre des Intimités, Michele’s second ready-to-wear collection for Valentino explored the interplay between intimacy and identity. A public bathroom, awash in Valentino red, became the stage for a Lynchian meditation on selfhood. The restroom, a liminal space between the private and the public, was transformed into a “meta-theatre,” where identity can be constructed and performed. The designer imagined this set as a “temporarily autonomous space, free from the codification of norms.”

Models emerged from crimson-lit cubicles in various stages of dress and undress, soundtracked by a recording of Lana Del Rey’s Gods & Monsters. It was an interesting play of public and private, decorum and exposure. Heavy faux fur coats gave way to delicate lace bodysuits; structured tweed blazers and woollen trousers were followed by lustrous silk dresses. Drawing from Valentino’s archives, Michele revisited styles from the 1960s and 1970s, incorporating ruffled hems, Pierrot-esque collars, and bows aplenty across the show’s 80 looks.

Michele showcased his eclecticism in the accessories. Lace headbands and pearl jewellery paid homage to the house’s opulent, refined origins, while oversized glasses and jet-black balaclavas introduced a feeling of rebellion and disguise. The tension between concealment and revelation was palpable. Here, clashing textures and silhouettes appeared not in opposition to one another, but rather, as complementary forces in a kaleidoscopic spectrum of self-expression.

Who do we become when we get dressed each day? And what aspects of ourselves are revealed when we undress at night? For Michele, here lies the true allure of our clothes. They aid us in our ability to transform, to evolve, to react to the world around us. “We should know: no intimacy can ultimately undress us, no veil can be torn to put us before our true self,” Michele shared in the show notes. “Because the idea that there’s an authentic self, untouched by life and its determinations, is misleading.”

In the end, Michelle reminds us that we are all actors in the theatre of our own making, forever dressing, undressing, and stepping into the next version of ourselves. Who or what we become is part of the fun. If there is anyone in the world who understands this, it’s Michele.