This is Valentino. Are you surprised?
One of the reported reasons why Alessandro Michele left Gucci last year was his refusal to change, to tone down his maxed-out maximalism, which has by then, gone quite stale. If it was so then, wouldn't it still be so now, just seven months after his departure? Mr Michele does not seem to think so. He is all out to meet expectations. For his "surprise" reveal of resort 2025, nothing is even a tad surprising. There is not even an attempt. Titled Avant les Débuts ('before the beginning' in French), it could be a first public appearance for Mr Michele's Valentino, but it sure is not for is his brand of muchness. Is it, however, suggestive of something earlier that Valentino Garavani? A set of a whopping 171 dopey images is released to the media, featuring clothes of unneeded familiarity and unabashed overmuch. Read: Valentino, the Gucci years.
It is very likely that this is what Valentino desires, but why? One industry observer said to us, "There has been a specific Valentino customer for the last 50 years. Suddenly, she has no clothes to buy." And it is a painful thought: She has to make way for old-Gucci die-hards. Even if Mr Michele claimed that he dug deep into the Valentino archive, telling BOF that he and his team "lost ourselves" in the historical records, the exercise appears to be a futile one. Picking from the founder's oeuvre—the lady-like notion of chic—means nothing since he infuses the designs with his own idea of what is tres chic. No, he overwhelmed them. Mr Michele does not hint, he hits—with a bang. As with Gucci, his aesthetical obsession permeates everything, including the accessories, the bags, the shoes, and the cast of (again) eccentric-seeming models. Nothing is spared his willfully offbeat slap.
These days, a brand does not need to be good. It has to be cool. And the two do not have to be synonymous. Or share the same bed. Mr Michele's idea of cool subscribes to something stitched in the past, tapped to the geeky/goofy, and is borderline o-biang—dated and ugly. But ugly is a different beast today. It now has pedigree. And Mr Michele is the pure blood patriarch. To ensure the survival of his brand of impeccable ugly, he has to spread his seed. And it is Valentino that's the happy recipient. The transition from Gucci is really not hard. He already has in his mind what he will do, change, or exaggerate. And Valentino of the '60s and '70s is totally up his gaily decorated alley. The clothes require no descriptions here, since we have already described them before. But are they, in the revisit of Mr Michele's past tenure, still cool? Is cool even cool anymore?
Examining those images, one thing stuck out: those fancifully-patterned hotel bedroom slippers. Are they targeted at mainland Chinese consumers for whom that footwear is not restricted to sleeping quarters? Reuters recently shared a report by Bain consultancy that concluded: "China's richest people are avoiding flaunting their wealth in favour of more discreet fashion." If that is the case, who is Valentino now really appealing to? Those slippers bring to mind the kangaroo fur-trimmed mules with the horse-bit buckle that Mr Michele introduced in 2015 when they became an instant hit. Is at the feet where Valentino hope to score its first hit? There is, no doubt, an audience for what Mr Michele offers, but would it not have already shrunk now? And if you were a die-hard fan, would you not have already owned similar clothing from Gucci? Or should those sport the V logo in place of the double-G? Forgive us, we're tired. How do you spell Valentino? G-U-C-C-I?
Photos: Valentino
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