The Alessandro Michele-fication of Valentino Is Already Here

Dhani Mau

17 June 2024 at 10:57 am·8-min read

In early 2015, before he was officially promoted to the creative director position at Gucci (replacing Frida Giannini after her abrupt departure), Alessandro Michele — then its head accessories designer — created and presented a full menswear collection in just five days. A few weeks later, he presented his first womenswear collection for the house. In a little more than a month, Michele had electrified the fashion world and turned Gucci into a point of obsession for industry insiders and shoppers alike.

On Monday, Michele surprise-dropped his first collection as creative director of Valentino, a role he began April 2, and already it's generated a similar level of fanfare. Spanning a whopping 171 looks, the Resort 2025 collection very clearly introduces a new era for the Roman fashion house — one that's dripping with Michele's signature retro, eccentric maximalism.

<p>Photos: Launchmetrics Spotlight</p> — Photos: Launchmetrics Spotlight

That's not to say Michele is just designing the same stuff under a different brand name. As he reportedly told a small group of editors over Zoom (none of whom got to see the collection in person), the collection is the result of a deep dive into founder Valentino Garavani's archives.

"I'm deep in conversation with the clothes he created, and with his life, and I've often had the impression of having him seated next to me," he said, per Vogue Runway. "Valentino was never a minimalist, rather a maximalist, even in the '70s when he was at his most streamlined... There was always a very Roman sense of opulence and excess to his work, distilled through an obsession for beauty."

"There's a level of workmanship that I see for the first time in a company. I can ask for the impossible, you know?" Michele also said, per Business of Fashion. "For someone like me, it's a continuous orgasm. It's a climax."

Indeed, there's a somewhat traditional ladylike elegance running through much of the collection: luxurious fur-trimmed outerwear, dainty footwear, gold-chain handbags, delicate gloves, beautifully tailored suits (for all gender expressions) sumptuous gowns, piles of pearl necklaces and a smattering of all-cream looks referencing Garavani's 1968 all-white collection.

It's not just the size of the collection that's so impressive — it's also the many, many layers and details within each look, including every possible accessory: a range of handbags, from classic silhouettes to fanny packs; all manner of footwear, from Mary Janes to leather boots to sneakers; an abundance of vintage-looking statement jewelry; hosiery for every look, from white knee-highs to boldly colored tights; an impressive range of headwear: headbands, scarves, turbans, baseball caps; as well as various belts, gloves, ties and shawls.

Clearly, no matter where he goes, Michele is going to bring his obsessive attention to detail and proclivities for eccentricity, maximalism, logomania and '60s and '70s silhouettes — but in a way that speaks to the core of the house for which he's designing. Given how much there is to take in from this surprise, in-between collection; the anticipation is now even more heightened for Michele's Valentino runway debut, set for September, not to mention his couture debut in early 2025.

Keep scrolling to see every look from Valentino's Resort 2025 collection by Michele.