“I want to bring back ‘the crazy chic’ of Valentino to the streets”

His return to the podium was eagerly awaited. It’s done this Sunday afternoon at the Porte de Châtillon with its first parade Valentino. As a reminder, Alessandro Michele entered the spotlight at Gucci in 2015 and made the Italian house an ultra-lucrative pop culture phenomenon for seven years. Is it the erosion of power or the infernal fashion cycle? Its maximalist aesthetic had finally become boring and sales were running out of steam. The Roman abruptly left the brand and took a break of 18 months before announcing that he was taking the creative reins of Valentino. How to reinvent yourself? And above all, how can you inhabit this fashion house deeply marked by the history of its founders (Valentino Garavani and Giancarlo Giammetti) while remaining yourself? These questions undoubtedly tormented the creator during his withdrawal. But – no need to leave the suspense – he found the best answer with this very beautiful collection, touching, rich, singular, which in many respects remains very faithful to the spirit of Valentino.

His friends all came, Elton John, Harry Styles, Jared Leto, Carla Bruni, but also François-Henri Pinault accompanied by Salma Hayek, who is none other than his former employer at Kering and who has, in the meantime, taken a participation with the Qatari investment fund that owns Valentino… The place has the air of an abandoned castle where the furniture is covered in white sheets, the floor is a huge broken mirror. Michele’s big parade can begin. The male and female models almost seem to wander in this labyrinth, emerging from a forgotten ball, with hats, veils, lace gloves. It’s both very Michele in its reinterpretation of vintage and its busy silhouette, and very Valentino in the polka dot and ruffled cocktail dresses, in the gypsy cardigans and little folk couture jackets, in the paisley-print petticoats and the sublime embroidered vests with antique patterns on black velvet.

Looking at these young people who have perfectly appropriated the clothes, we think back to the conversation we had with Alessandro Michele a few days before the show, Place Vendôme in the Parisian Valentino salons. “ I grew up in Rome, Mr. Valentino was literally part of the citysays the almost 52-year-old designer. Everyone knew his house on the Piazza di Spagna, everyone said they had met him, incredibly elegant, in this restaurant or café. His name is part of the mythology of Rome! He was to the city what Prince was to Minneapolis in the 1980s. I often say that in Rome, there was the Pope, the President and Valentino. He represented this inaccessible world of divas, aristocrats and crowned heads.“In recent months, he has taken the time to explore the archives”incredibly rich in dresses, jewelry, jackets, shoes, turbans, hats. We can feel behind each piece, the fragment of a life, of so many lives. You can feel the personality, the body, the attitude behind each dress, and this is undoubtedly specific to Valentino who maintained friendships with many of his clients! Valentino is the only Italian couturier from the golden age of couture before the 1980s. I would love to bring back to the street this “crazy chic” which no longer exists today. I think we need it.»

Michele denies any nostalgia. “But I admit to loving the past, why deprive ourselves of the beauty of everything that preceded us? I like the idea of ​​these sediments of beauty like in Paris, this crystal pyramid in front of a 17th century building.^e century.» On the other hand, he invokes the crazy vitality of Valentino, which distinguishes him from the figure of the Parisian couturier à la Yves Saint Laurent, depressive and Proustian. “I looked at the archives a lot but we are in 2024. He himself might have made the same ruffles, the same shine, the same chic, but in a different way. He loved celebrating life, he would celebrate today’s. That’s what I want to do too.» The Roman who remixed the Gucci codes so well almost a decade ago, approaches the Valentino heritage with more subtlety but without shying away from his pleasure. “ I’m not the type to copy and paste archives, but when imagining this collection, I thought back to certain details, to certain obsessions of Mr. Valentino like polka dots. It’s funny, actually, because until now I hated polka dots, and at Gucci, Davide (Renne, died suddenly last year) with whom I worked for a long time, always tried to convince me to do it. And here it is today, I am obsessed with polka dots! It’s like being in Japan and not eating sushi. It may not be your favorite dish, but if you’re in Tokyo you have to try it. I tried peas and loved it!»

From Valentino, he also says he took the personal, hippie chic style of the 1970s for his masculine silhouette. But like Karl Lagerfeld who hated being told about respect regarding Coco Chanel, Michele says that he of course respects the two founders as he respects his father and mother but has no desire to be like them. “All that matters to me today is being sincere. To have no regrets.»