By Helen Reid
PARIS, Oct 4 (Reuters) – Valentino showed colourful corset tops, lace skirts and chunky gold necklaces on Sunday in a fashion show creative director Alessandro Michele dubbed “Antibiblioteca”, set in the iconic reading room of the 19th-century Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève in Paris.
On a sun-drenched afternoon, celebrities arrived each clutching a book which they showed off to the cameras and a large crowd of assembled fans. Guests including actors Alexander Skarsgard and Cynthia Erivo, American stylist Law Roach, and Chinese model Yidan Huang took their seats at long oak reading tables dotted with green lamps, under the library’s iron latticework ceiling arches.
Michele has led the Roman fashion house since March 2024 and is under pressure to revive sales at the brand that swung to a €103 million loss last year as revenues fell 15%. He was previously creative director at Gucci for eight years where his maximalist aesthetic and gender-fluid, eccentric designs like fur-lined loafers reinvigorated the brand and boosted sales.
Models prowled along the library stacks in tight silk corset tops in bright blue, yellow, or hot pink, paired with skirts in contrasting colours. Dresses were strapless too, with the final look a floor-length Valentino red number with a giant black bow. Lace skirts and shirts had ostrich-feather hems.
Jewellery was chunky and colourful, with elaborate, baroque gold necklaces and giant pearl earrings. Women and men wore cross-body handbags or held rectangular clutches with studs and sequins.
Men wore half-buttoned double-breasted jackets or sequinned shirts, sporting tinted sunglasses and bright baseball caps with “VILLAIN TEEN” printed on them.
In June Valentino’s shareholders — Qatar-backed Mayhoola, which owns 70% of the company, and French luxury group Kering, which holds the remaining 30% — committed additional financial support for 2026 after debt increased. Kering has options to increase its ownership to 100% before 2029.
(Reporting by Helen Reid; Editing by Nia Williams)
