Inside Alessandro Michele's Cherry-Glossed Bathroom: Valentino FW25 Transforms Identity in a Meta-Theater of Intimacy
Alessandro Michele presents his second ready-to-wear collection for Valentino in a public lavatory, challenging old perceptions and exploring a new era for the maison.
In Alessandro Michele's own Lynchian red (rest)room of Le Méta-Théâtre Des Intimités, a deep shade of cherry glosses the walls covering the septic tank of a revolution. Models saunter out of stalls under the flashing lights of a flushed club bathroom. Some stop at the sink and gaze into the mirror on their way out, while others stride directly past. It's a private experience done in public, and that in between, intangible space of personal ritual is where Michele seeks to get in contact with our true selves: "Who are we?"
There's no way Michele could ask that of his audience and not have the answer for himself– Michele is more Michele than ever since he joined Valentino in 2024, following a decades-long career at another maison where a shift towards quiet luxury became antithetical to his magpie-maximalism. And yet, the opposite is also true–there has only ever been one Alessandro Michele.
His show notes, a hodgepodge of literary and philosophical references, define true intimacy as the unwrapping of "many layers without pretending to finally find the core, the hidden essence that, for this reason, should be truer than the staging of exteriority, of role play, of dissimulation" (Madera). In essence, he suggests that our layers of identity are as authentic as any imagined core self.
Michele's identity is whatever he wants it to be. And so, in Michele's hands, Valentino melts, its fluidity never meant to be kept in a box. It is shell necklaces and lace head scarves paired with jerseys, spandex shorts with ruffles, sheer blouses worn braless with balaclavas and black checkered Vans made equally for the city rat girl romantics and the old country cat ladies. It's not overtly sexual, yet whispers perversely with flowery nipples and the unbuttoned crotches of cotton candy lingerie pieces known as "teddies."
Then, there are the calling cards of old lovers. A soft, red wool jacket with an almost puritan collar is paired with a brunch hat and leopard print flats that barely peek out from under wide-leg slacks. Petite velvet bows on tiered evening gowns subtly wink at the codes of Garavani's Valentino. Looks like these make up the minority, but blend seamlessly into Michele's new meta-theater like they were always meant to be.
Michele's meta-theater of identity finds its perfect audience in the cherry-washed front row—each face a mirror reflecting back the designer's fluid vision. Chappell Roan, Little Simz, Clairo, Parker Posey (indeed, The Moment of White Lotus fame), Sophie Thatcher, Charlotte Lawrence, and Barry Keoghan. Together they witness Michele's Valentino transformation, where we're all just trying on versions of ourselves in that most intimate of spaces—the public bathroom mirror, where nothing is fixed and everything is possible.
