Dress Rehearsal: Alessandro Michele's Valentino Concerto of 171 Looks
Alessandro Michele's Own Eras World Tour..
Hello everybody!
Happy Monday. Reporting in from Paris. I hope you enjoyed my very long 9th edition Style’s Week newsletter on Saturday.
Menswear fashion week is starting tomorrow. Expect short-form reviews from yours truly, and highlights on how we’ll be dressing come September.
Alessandro Michele telegraphed from Rome this morning the release of his new vision for Valentino. Consider it a preview collection for what’s to come. I was comparing notes with a colleague today as the coffee was kicking in, and we both agreed that Michele’s Valentino was the ‘New Gucci’. The internet will likely have the last word on this one.
The highly shoppable collection was composed of 171 looks, for which Michele told Vogue, he was responsible for “tuning the instruments”. Fair enough, for the brand struck a lovely opening concerto.
It hung on all the right notes from a bygone era and adapted it to the new cool, staying true to Valentino’s Roman roots. Twisting them with updated romance and chords of 1970s influence, attuning the aesthetic to Michele’s himself.
By his own account, Michele did not go deep on Garavani’s 1980’s influence. Which will be interesting to unpack once it’s there. As he sews the first threads, expect maximalism to be a force to contend with at this house. All eyes will be on Michele for the Paris couture.
Perhaps better seen as a dress rehearsal, this Valentino wasn’t totally unexpected. There hasn’t even been a show yet. Instead, it acted like a refreshing version of what had been an evening-for-daytime look for the brand under the former creative direction.
I really liked the collection and imagine it will sell very well at the stores and online. Especially with the leather goods and the shoes. Those bags were delicious. The women’s wear was dripping in pearls, dotted with ruffles (expected), fringe, and electrified with fresh prints.
The men’s wear was freshly tailored, removed of frilly excess, and distilled in modern influence.
Gone were any signs of the geeky technocrat, rather an allure of youth that could make Diana Vreeland jump on her chair. Some of the little daywear shoes were sewn with bows, and mid-heels, accented with jewels, styled with lacy stockings, and worked over with couture technique that will hand them their value. Slides seem to be this moment's dressy shoe of choice.
I can see the version of the preppy-meets-downtown LA looks. Or, the jeans with print hems that screamed “new hippie!”
Michele seems to be working in steps, lest he forget Garavani’s red-dress of the 1990s.
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