Alessandro Michele news and archive

Alessandro Michele’s Valentino: A maximalist’s take on Haute Couture

Red words scrolled along a black board, poetic descriptors heralding Alessandro Michele’s first haute couture collection for Valentino. Words like “Vitruvian,” “Queen,” “Flowers,” and “Harlequin” set the tone for what was to come. The latter served as a fitting prelude to the opening look: a harlequin-patterned gown with an exaggerated...

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Constant change and whispers: the creative shifts that defined 2024

Nothing is as constant as change – it may sound like a cliché, but the fashion industry proves it year after year, particularly when it comes to its creative directors. While change has long been a defining feature of the fashion world, the creative upheavals of 2024 have been nothing short of unprecedented in their frequency. FashionUnited...

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Valentino partners with Dover Street Market for global pop-up rollout

Valentino is expanding its retail footprint through a collaboration with concept store Dover Street Market. Beginning this week, the brand will launch a series of Valentino-curated pop-up shops at DSM locations worldwide, including London, Paris, New York, Singapore, Los Angeles and Tokyo, said WWD. The partnership is strategic for Valentino as...

FashionFeatured

Fashion's pendulum swings away from quiet luxury

For the past multiple seasons, in what feels like an eternity in the fashion sphere, the quiet luxury trend, which began after the pandemic, has reigned over the catwalks, zeitgeist, and the media. Dressing down was the new dressing up. Even words like "demure" and "mindful", a meme that first embraced good behavior and not standing out in the...

Fashion|In Pictures

Alessandro Michele makes bohemian-chic Valentino debut with new it-bag

Alessandro Michele’s debut as creative director of fashion house Valentino was arguably the most anticipated event of the September 2024 Paris Fashion Week. On Sunday, September 29, 2024, at the Porte de Châtillon, the show that everyone had been waiting for during Paris Fashion Week took place. Two legends: the house of Valentino and Alessandro...

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Valentino drops first collection designed by Alessandro Michele

Alessandro Michele, the newly appointed creative director of Valentino, unveiled a surprise pre-spring 2025 collection look book during the penultimate day of Milan men's fashion week, three months before his highly anticipated debut runway show. The collection, consisting of 171 looks and 91 detail shots of accessories, marks the triumphant...

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Alessandro Michele named creative director of Valentino

The dust has only just settled from the shock announcement that Valentino’s long-time creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli was to step down. Alas, unlike the usually drawn out build up of successor announcements typically made by other houses of such calibre, the Italian luxury label has been quick to name Alessandro Michele as its new creative...

People|Opinion FeaturedMember

Who could replace Dries Van Noten?

It has been just five years since Dries Van Noten sold a majority stake of his company to Puig, the Spanish luxury conglomerate. Whether succession planning factored into the transaction remains uncertain. At 65 years old, Mr. Van Noten's recent announcement to retire from the fashion sphere and focus on other aspects of life — pursuits often...

Fashion|Opinion Featured

Gucci's whimsy-to-chic shift leaves some wanting more

Gucci’s highly anticipated showcase at Milan Fashion Week has garnered mixed reviews from industry insiders, with some feeling that Gucci Ancora's debut collection under the new creative direction of Sabato De Sarno lacked the anticipated fervor. The collection, named "Ancora" meaning "anchor" in Italian, marked a tabula rasa moment, erasing any...

Fashion

Will Gucci's interim collections soon be forgotten?

At the womenswear presentations during Milan Fashion Week, Gucci last week presented its second collection without a creative lead. The fall men’s and womenswear collections, designed by the brand’s in-house studio team, received ample coverage, as Gucci remains an important advertiser to most fashion publications. Yet the reviews skewed to the...

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A new subdued Gucci opens Milan Men's Fashion Week

Gucci on Friday debuted its first menswear collection without its former creative director, Alessandro Michele. While simultaneously opening Milan Men’s Fashion Week, it was also Gucci’s first standalone show after years of presenting in a co-ed format. It was certainly a far cry from its September Twinsville presentation. As the sound of a bass...

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Maximalism, Romanticism and Nostalgia: The best of Alessandro Michele at Gucci

It is official, Alessandro Michele is leaving Gucci. In his nearly eight years at the helm of the Florentine fashion house, for which Michele worked for a total of 20 years, his name became synonymous with Gucci. While Fashion can be intimidating, self-indulgent and painstakingly serious, Michele infused the industry with some much-needed...