Pack your bags, gents, we’re off to Milan! Returning to the Italian city’s cobblestone streets on June 16, Valentino is bringing it back to the basics with its first menswear-dedicated runway in three years. Breaking away from the co-ed format it followed in recent seasons, the show, entitled Valentino The Narratives, will mark the beginning of Milan’s annual June Men’s Fashion Week, kicking off at 2pm CET at the Università degli Studi di Milano Statale and carrying through until June 20.
Paying homage to Valentino Garavani’s first ever menswear show, which he staged in Milan in January 1985, the decision to step away from the City of Love – the atelier’s usual show destination – comes as a return to the house’s roots. Redefining what started there, Pierpaolo Piccioli will, “resignify the codes of menswear, but not without looking to the past”, according to a press release.
Though the category will continue to converse with womenswear, Piccioli intends to further the bounds of formalwear, iterating on the Maison Valentino Essentials collection – a selection of menswear staples that reconsider traditional rules and limitations, pivoting menswear into something more free. The Narratives will put menswear on a pedestal, imparting a powerful moment of unmissable menswear staples.
From left: Jacob Elordi and Pedro Pascal
Over the seasons, Valentino menswear has been increasing in categorical importance, at the hands of business CEO Jacopo Venturini. In 2022, the maison saw menswear representing 14 percent of Valentino sales. Plus, recent seasons have seen the onboarding of male ambassadors from the likes of BTS member Suga, to Formula 1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton and Chinese singer-songwriter Li Ronghao. In physical retail, 75 Valentino stores house both men’s and women’s collections, with 25 menswear exclusive stores.
Not to mention, students of the University will be able to attend the event live on campus, as Piccioli continues to champion and support local communities and new generations, nurturing artistic talents and creating cultural learning opportunities with institutions and universities – how democratic! His decision to show on the opening day of Milan Fashion Week, at a time when Statale di Milano is swarming with students, comes from the desire to inspire and stimulate the next generation offering a creative exchange.
The SS24 Valentino menswear show will be live-streamed via the brand’s social media platforms and at Valentino.com.
Photography courtesy of Valentino.
