At the time it was announced that Alessandro Michele will be the creative director at Valentino I was a little preoccupied with matters unrelated to fashion, I was more interested in baby cots and wallpaper options for my unborn babys nursery. Although the news grazed my ear, I didn’t jump to analyze whether he was a good fit for the brand until a few months later when the first Valentino show by Michele took place at Paris fashion week.
Valentino by Michele show during the Fashion Week Paris : Disney meets high fashion
The collection was mesmerizing and no I am not selling here, it was like something that came out of a Disney cartoon, in the best possible sense. A little birdie who is a close friend landed a top position in Valentino just before the Alessandro reign, so naturally I received the entire catalog to look through and of course many many pre orders came his way, the collection came through this spring and in person it is even more awe igniting than the runway, its hush hush but I might be wearing a Valentino for a certain A list event at the Cannes film festival this coming May.
The mix of clashing patterns, striking accessories in bold colours are a genius that few designers can pull off without it looking like a screaming mess or to say the least tacky… I can name a few but I will be saving my bashing for a different post. This was solid… this collection had to be a success. Whether it was or not remains to be seen, however.
Breaking away from classic Valentino
It is expected that the classic Valentino that we have become accustomed to in the last almost 3 decades which was the essence of understated luxury had amassed a loyal clientele, and Alessandros collection although no less elegant is anything but understated, which might have raised some eyebrows but let’s face it, we knew Michele was not going to come in subtle.
I remember thinking how exciting… how will he translate his aesthetic to Valentino, but as a true artist he translated Valentino into Michele. As long as it is not into Gucci, I don’t mind.
This is Michele, not Gucci 2.0
Michele had been the creative director at Gucci for 20 years, so for the most part millennials and current fashionistas hardly know a Gucci without him, thereby putting Valentino in a peculiar position. It is one thing when people associate a fashion house with the current creative director, household names have done amazing things for big brands as far as transformed and driven the success rate but it’s another if they associate the fashion house with another fashion house and this is the slippery slope in the case of Alessandros move from Gucci to Valentino.
The most important thing to keep in mind when reviewing his magnificent collection is it is not “too Gucci”, it is Alessandro Michele.
Creating a selection proved to be more difficult this time around as I literally just want to add everything, but I tried my best.
Links to outfits
