Alessandro Michele's surprise return

Whether calculated twist or pure spite, Alessandro Michele's return with Valentino's Resort 2025 surprise lookbook has shaken up the fashion world this Friday. We speak of spite and twist because the enormous collection (189 looks, plus a lookbook dedicated to accessories) arrived unexpectedly just hours before the debut of Gucci's show, a move that can't be considered coincidental given the extensive premeditation suggested by the number of looks, the care of the lookbook itself, and the timing. Online, the first reactions were divisive: some said the new Valentino is a remake of the style Michele proposed for years; others welcomed the return of that maximalism which had disappeared in favor of a more opulent sobriety across the industry over the past year. As often happens with Michele, both sides are somewhat right. On one hand, the looks of the collection closely echo those the designer had proposed during his years of absolute dominance in the market (especially a more disciplined version of Gucci FW20). On the other hand, looking closely, many of the clothes reference Valentino's archives from the '60s and '70s, which Michele claimed to have explored as a goldmine.

In these hours, Michele is being compared on Twitter and other platforms to a Hedi Slimane, whose aesthetic ends up towering over the brand's original – but in uncertain times like ours, when brands like Berluti, Lanvin, Givenchy, and (at least for this season) Chanel can afford to go without a creative director, perhaps it's necessary for the hand of a certain author, especially one as costly to hire as Michele, to be very present or not at all. The perception is that they wanted to signal to that slice of customers still attached to the heritage of the Roman designer that now the chef, so to speak, works in another restaurant. There are signs of continuity with the past: here and there, through the labyrinth of styling, one notices logoed products signaling continuity with the past, which will surely continue in the carry-over collection or certain designs animated by monograms whose purpose seems to be to ensure a smooth transition for the brand's clientele. A definite positive note is the absence of those heterogeneous streetwear elements which, especially lately from Gucci, had started to flirt with the extravagant like neon-colored logoed leggings, shiny spandex peplums, bags, and shirts decorated with Disney characters, and so on. This is a calmer and more measured Michele, his hand is assured albeit self-indulgent.

This Valentino collection represents Alessandro Michele in his early style, full of character, who balances his eccentricity and knows himself, also providing a strong dose of nostalgia for eras when dressing was experienced with a kind of hedonistic abandon - not a Tom Ford type hedonism, but of someone who pleasantly sinks into the past. Will it work in the era of vintage and secondhand? It certainly has that exuberance and complete vision rich in details and nuances that, in the reductionist climate also born in reaction to Michele's predominance, had faded along with the will to place the archival discourse in a more explicitly narrative aesthetic framework. The collection also hints at potential interesting developments especially for Haute Couture, considering how, in his previous tenure, the search for an ultra-clean and ultra-disciplined line, albeit animated by a chromatic romanticism, had been predominant. Michele is exploring the brand's enormous, rich past, of which he is now the new custodian, and intends to take the audience with him on his excavation. And he has our attention.