(Designers)
Valentino Just Surprise Dropped Alessandro Michele’s Debut Collection
And, of course, it’s pretty bold.
The fashion industry never fails to be unpredictable. You could wake up on any given morning to the news that a creative director is exiting a label — like on June 5, when Chanel’s longtime leader, Virginie Viard, left after 30 years. Or, perhaps a designer will surprise drop a new line. Such was the case this morning when Alessandro Michele unveiled his Valentino debut collection, titled Avant les Débuts, for Resort 2025 ... with no prior warning. Coinciding with the last day of Men’s Spring/Summer 2024 Fashion Week in Milan, the maison unexpectedly released the lookbook imagery online.
To backtrack a bit, the Italian designer first shook the industry in Nov. 2022 with his decision to step down from Gucci after seven years at the helm, where he reinvigorated the heritage brand with his gender-fluid, eccentric and colorful approach to design. Fast forward two years to this March when Valentino appointed Michele as its new CD. Now, onlookers are finally getting a first taste of what he’s bringing to the table (spoiler: it’s just as maximalist as one would have imagined).
When designing the 171 colorful, print-heavy looks (a Michele signature, as you may know), the Roman fashion house’s founder, Valentino Garavani, was at top of mind. “Valentino was never a minimalist, rather a maximalist, even in the ‘70s when he was at his most streamlined,” Michele told Vogue. “There was always a very Roman sense of opulence and excess to his work, distilled through an obsession for beauty.”
As such, archival styles inspired by bygone eras, including the ‘70s and ‘80s, were threaded throughout the line by way of vintage-esque furry coats, polka dot mini dresses, chunky pearl necklaces, ruffled gloves, and colorful turbans. Bold, loud prints were also a common theme in the collection, seen via leopard knee-length skirts, houndstooth capes, and retro-like floral outerwear. Suiting, another hallmark silhouette for Michele, was splashed in abstract motifs. And the medley of head-to-toe white outfits? Those were inspired by Garavani’s 1968 collection.
Though this initial installment is a first look of Michele’s Valentino creations, he’ll make his official runway debut on Sept. 29 in Paris. Until then, peruse through an edit of TZR’s favorite Resort 2025 designs.
