In preparation for Alessandro Michele’s first runway presentation after departing from Gucci, Valentino has announced that its new calendar will combine women's and men's lines into one unisex presentation shown during Paris women’s seasons and will have just one co-ed couture show a year. The strategic decision marks the beginning of a new creative vision for the brand led by Michele.
Questions have swirled about the future of Valentino following Pierpaolo Piccioli’s departure in 2023 and the cancellation of several presentations scheduled for 2024. After the peak of 2020 lockdown, Piccioli reinstated the Italian house’s position introducing its first-ever men's haute couture pieces in SS21. The show served as a reset point for Valentino, which continued to draw interest through runway spectacles like the FW22 presentation that sent co-ed models down the runway covered head-to-toe in “Pierpaolo Pink.” With Alessandro Michele now at the helm of the house, one can expect Valentino to continue pushing Pierpaolo’s fluid vision forward. After all, it was Michele whose subversive perspective challenged gender binaries at Gucci routinely.
The move to scale back the runway calendar could be refreshing for Valentino after an era of such high visibility, especially as the appetite for such decadent displays of opulence has slumped in favor of a more conscious “quiet luxury”. A slower pace combined with a doubled-down gender-inclusive outlook may be what’s needed as the industry zeroes in on issues of sustainability and diversity.
Michele’s runway debut for Valentino SS25 will be presented on September 29th at 3 PM CEST at Paris Spring/Summer 2025 Fashion Week.
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