Valentino is a smaller brand. The Roman house reported sales of €1.35 billion in 2023, down 3 per cent compared to the previous year on a constant basis. Its profitability was 7.4 per cent in 2023. The budget at Valentino is arguably smaller too. Times have also changed. “The consumer of 2015 is not the consumer of 2024, but Michele is very much able to understand the zeitgeist,” says Mario Ortelli, managing director of Ortelli & Co.
Surely, Michele has the ability to ignite trends. About the first look of the show, he said: “The first model was in love with her dress, with the small bows and plastron that looked like a heart. She had never seen such a démodé dress. I think demodé dressing is very contemporary.”
Unanimously positive reactions
“Alessandro is back,” fashion editor and stylist Carine Roitfeld said after the show. “Next season, we will have to be creative and search for some vintage pieces. More than fashion, it’s a mood, a way to be, a joy, an ultra femininity.”
Mytheresa’s Johnson called it “a beautiful and intensely romantic first outing”. He continued: “He tapped into a softer, feminine feeling which read as an ode to Rome and to the house of Valentino. With a few exceptions, the looks were long, light and carefully co-ordinated to cover the body which created a sophisticated and elevated aesthetic that our best clients will love and appreciate.”
“The moment I walked in the room and saw all the collections of chairs, couches and lamps shrouded in white drop cloths — protected keepsakes now ready to be revealed — on a surface of cracked mirror, I knew I would fall for this collection. And I did,” Broadway producer Jordan Roth said. “It was as if we took a cinematic stroll through layers of memories — both real and imagined — of travels to distant lands, of days apart and nights together, of joy and melancholy. And all those layers of story were rendered through layers of clothes, so exquisitely crafted and detailed with Alessandro’s unmistakable flair and the sophistication that has always been the foundation of Valentino.”
Photo: Courtesy of Valentino
