March 10, 2025 |
“Are we in the bathroom at DC10?” Asked one confused editor. No, it was the setting of the Valentino show. The bougie brand was slumming it for AW25.
Alessandro Michele certainly knows how to spring a surprise. His show was immersive, like a theatre experience. In a Narnia-like transition, we left the bustle and traffic of Paris behind, passed through a toilet stall and stepped into the show space, styled like a huge unisex public toilet. The designer’s set re-created the kind of soulless white tiled bathrooms that exist the world over (thankfully without the graffiti or the smell) in airports train stations and large music venues.
Bathed in Valentino red light the setting was, said the designer, deliberately “dystopian, disturbing, Lynchian space.” He’s clearly intent on shaking this brand out of its boogie comfort zone. But why a toilet? Michele called it “a counter place” where public and private co-exist.
Once the music got started it felt like we were in the unisex toilets of a mega club with all manner revellers passing through. Some in high waisted trousers with sweaters tucked in and carrying roomy bags, looked like they’d come straight from the office to the party. Others in gold flounced gowns or flared jeans and a little knotted chiffon bustier were party ready. And there were also a few party casualties, emerging from their toilet cubicles into the show space with the poppers on their lace body suits still undone.
Michele didn’t hold back, serving a cacophony of looks, including a Vans collaboration. He era hopped the ’60s and ’70s, zeroing in on beaded gowns and fake fur trimmed suits. Power shouldered cocktail dresses and jackets threw it back to the opulent 1980s. There were references to his own evolving Valentino language; a fully sequinned gown with a cat motif that echoed the cute little viral cat bag of his ready to wear debut as well as harlequin gowns and dresses that echoed his grand couture debut. All the best parties end up in the bathroom.
Photography by Christina Fragkou.
