Alessandro Michele Surprises the Fashion World with Early Valentino Collection Debut
June 19, 2024
Text by Ethan Hall
Alessandro Michele was only supposed to debut at Valentino in September for Spring Summer 25, however he stunned the industry by releasing an early collection only a few months after announcing he was joining Valentino as creative director.
Alessandro’s early career took him to work under some very influential designers such as Karl Lagerfeld, Silvia Venturini Fendi, and Tom Ford before moving up the ranks to CD at Gucci. His move to Valentino seems like a perfect fit, as his eclectic, 20th century maximalism suggests that it would blend well with the rich history of Valentino—needless to say, it really has. Gucci described his tenure as “groundbreaking creativity, while staying true to the renowned codes of the house” and we can see this has translated over in the best way to Valentino.
Michele described Valentino’s work as having a “very Roman sense of opulence and excess to his work, distilled through an obsession for beauty” and we see the inspiration that Michele has taken from this. Michele has indeed distilled his maximalism and the vast, intricate Valentino archive to a delicious Resort collection for the eyes.
As usual, Michele’s collection is an ode to the 20th century translated for current generations. The casual wear, especially the menswear, was very clean and neatly cut garments that elicited a very Italian luxury. Womenswear was the most beautifully striking in the true Michele maximalist style. The ruching, volants, and brocade, especially, in the collection, are details that help emphasize the influence of the 20th century.
We see inspiration drawn from lots of decades across the 20th century, as he insists that he did not focus on one decade of Valentino history. For instance, we see a huge 20s element in the collection with flapper style headdresses, boxy dresses, shimmering beady and pearls. We also see the iconic 60s fit and flare dress in bright blue matched with orange tights that would be found on the likes of Jackie Kennedy.
A lot of nude and pastel colors were used especially as creams, browns, oranges, and yellows; however, bright eye-catching colors on garments were used to contrast these to make sure you did not forget Alessandro’s spirit. An array of patterns are sprawled across the collection, varying from houndstooth, to paisley to leopard print.
This beginning to a new universe that Michele is creating has been as strong as ever. A collection that is united in diversity under the banner of Alessandro Michele’s beauty. The future holds a lot for Michele at Valentino and everyone is looking forward to seeing how this universe develops.
