Alessandro Michele makes bohemian-chic Valentino debut with new it-bag

Alessandro Michele’s debut as creative director of fashion house Valentino was arguably the most anticipated event of the September 2024 Paris Fashion Week. On Sunday, September 29, 2024, at the Porte de Châtillon, the show that everyone had been waiting for during Paris Fashion Week took place. Two legends: the house of Valentino and Alessandro Michele were presenting together for the first time.

Of course, everyone expected the new artistic director, with his strong creative personality, to do something very Alessandro-like, or rather a revival of Gucci from the Alessandro era. So what happened?

For this spring/summer 2025 collection, Michele did indeed draw on his bohemian-chic DNA and his taste for extravagance. Nowadays, a fashion house chooses a creative director precisely because of the world they represent. In the case of Michele, this is more than evident. "After a year and a half of other discussions, I signed the contract in three days," the designer recalls in the press release.

His 'flower power' spirit was expressed in a multitude of dresses with floral motifs, metallic embroideries, turbans, wide jeans, sequins, etc. Added to this was his taste for the extravagant: wide-brimmed hats reminiscent of those worn by women in the time of Paul Poiret, huge feather boas. And his unfailing romanticism: white lace tights, muslin veils and bow ties.

The Valentino heritage was visible in polka dots, recurring motifs for this SS25 line. They could be found on dresses, jackets, but also on shoes, ballerinas or boots, all inspired by the Balletcore trend. The iconic ‘Valentino Red’ was also added to dresses, lace tights, bow ties, or worn as a belt or as a hat.

The Office Core trend, an aesthetic inspired by office life, was found in the masculine looks that paraded by. But where Michele’s touch was truly felt was in the addition of jewellery: a pearl necklace in white mother-of-pearl, (fake) piercings on the lips or as earrings, lace gloves or a red collar.

What about the bags, an essential luxury item, designed by Alessandro Michele?

The famous Rockstuds bags, which have become a classic of the fashion house since their introduction in 2010 by the former artistic directors, gave way to round metal and lace-up models, less rock, more 70s, thus renewing the genre. Always with a cool attitude, fringes were another must-have, as were the embroideries and bucolic prints (cherries, flowers) found on small, precious models. Finally, the shopper with a large V was exhibited as the new version of a commercial model, presented in the pre-collection.

To accompany the atmosphere of the show, the soundtrack was “Passacaglia della Vita”, a re-release of a 17th century song about the cyclical nature of existence. As for the common thread that influenced the new artistic director, it was “beauty” in its most fragile and romantic form.

Michele's motto? To counterbalance the existential void with an eternal search for beauty. “Immersed as we are in the absurd infinity of the becoming of all things, we feel the urgent need to give meaning to this world of turmoil, to traverse the mystery of life in search of something that can restore its value and consistency,” said the artistic director. “It is within such a framework that beauty can take shape as a remedy to the anxiety generated by the evanescent and indefinite nature of our destiny. As an anchor point to navigate this “pavilion of follies” that we call life.”

This article was originally translated by Rachel Douglass with the help of an AI tool called Gemini 1.5 .

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