When the likes of Parker Posey, Barry Keoghan, Chappell Roan, Alexa Chung, and Nara Smith arrived at today’s Valentino show during Paris Fashion Week, I doubt they were expecting to walk into what the French fashion house’s creative director Alessandro Michele referred to in a press release as a “public toilet.” Don’t get me wrong, it was undoubtedly the chicest public toilet I’ve ever seen, but still. What they did expect, I’m sure, was a collection full of opulent, maximalist-leaning ensembles like those Michele’s been known for since his days at Gucci, where he held the role of creative director for seven years. For that, they got exactly what they came for.
Michele’s F/W 25 Valentino collection, titled Le Méta Théatre Des Intimités, consisted of 80 looks worn by models strolling in and out of individual stalls inside a Lynchian set made to look like a cherry-red bathroom full of mirrors, flickering lights, and haze-inducing Lana Del Rey vocals. According to show notes, the offering was inspired by intimacy and the vast number of ways society has affected our ability to be authentically intimate. From this, Michele questioned “the dualism between inside and outside, between what is intimate and what is exposed, between the personal and the collective, between what remains private and what is meant to be shared, between depth and surface.” These internal dialogues lead to sheer lace and mesh lingerie being mixed in with conservative skirt- and pantsuits—full transparency and a state of being almost entirely concealed.
No matter which side of the intimacy coin each look landed on, loud luxury showed its hand, with furry details, colorful lace hosiery, blue-tinted eyewear, and even a Vans collab also making an appearance on the runway this season. For more, keep scrolling.
Maximalism’s the Word
Where Michele goes, maximalism follows, and his second ready-to-wear collection for Valentino was hardly an exception. In one look, a model donning a striped and velvet-bow-clad skirt set layered a jacket made of gold sequins and fur trimmings on top. She also wore a lace cap and matching tights, a long beaded necklace, blue knit socks, and fur booties. Another model was styled in a gold, cropped jacket with one black-and-white polka-dot sleeve, paired with a pink, lace bodysuit and off-white polka-dot peplum skirt. Even the simpler ensembles featured loud moments, from blue-tinted eyewear to studded shoulder bags.
