The seventh day of Paris Fashion Week saw the unveiling of Alessandro Michele’s first ready-to-wear collection for Valentino. Although he has already released a collection for the House, Resort 2025, the SS25 collection marks his first runway presentation.
The show notes for the collection, called Pavillon des Folies, touch on themes of beauty, nature and the fragility of existence. It reflects on how the world’s thinkers have encapsulated beauty in eras past - “the power through which one looks at the powerlessness of things,” said E. Severino - as well as Michele's own thoughts about what beauty means to him. “When I say beauty, I am clearly not referring to its universalistic, dogmatic and normative mythologisation. I rather allude to that unique capability to deeply feel and connect with something that unveils and reveals a new universe of meaning,” says Michele. He then explains that creating something beautiful “feels like being raptured in a state of joy that can tear us away from senselessness.” So, what does this mean for Valentino?
Seemingly, beauty is a riot of colours, textures, prints and cuts. The Valentino SS25 collection is a hippy-adjacent curation of borderline-grunge sixties glamour - there are animal-print coats hemmed with feathers, heavily embroidered jackets, Elizabethan collars and oversized fur coats. As wonderfully eccentric as the collection is, the real delight is in the details. Lace gloves, faux facial piercings, layered pearl necklaces and chunky charm bracelets emphasised the character of each ensemble.
Valentino was formed in 1960 and perhaps Michele was inspired by the House’s founding era, as he was for his first resort collection. Incorporating the Maison’s codes with his signature bohemian, whimsical spirit, the collection was an exciting glimpse into the future of the House.
