Valentino SS27: Alessandro Michele stages an ‘antilibrary’ in a Paris reading room
Alessandro Michele showed Valentino's spring/summer 2027 collection on 4 October under the iron arches of the Sainte-Geneviève Library, inspired by Umberto Eco's idea of an “antilibrary” of unread books; guests were asked to bring a book for donation, WWD reported.
Valentino’s spring/summer 2027 show took place on Sunday, 4 October, in Paris’s Sainte-Geneviève Library in the Latin Quarter, where guests had been asked to bring a book to donate, according to WWD and Vogue.
Unread books, unworn clothes
Creative director Alessandro Michele said he drew on the “antilibrary” — Umberto Eco’s term for a collection of books not yet read — and compared it to beautiful clothes left waiting in a wardrobe, WWD reported. Actor Alexander Skarsgård, for one, brought a collection of Icelandic sagas.
Maximalism, again
WWD described statement gowns such as a fuchsia satin column with a large pleated pink rosette train, 1980s power blazers worn with lace cycling shorts, jewel-toned satin bustiers mismatched with tasselled and embroidered skirts, and a few everyday pieces — double-pleated jeans, plaid shirts and caps reading “Villain Teen.” The reviewer read the collection as an ode to the human touch; Michele, recalling robots at a recent Vogue World event in Milan, said: “I’m not against technology… I don’t need a second brain.”
The business backdrop
The stakes are commercial too: WWD noted that Valentino went from an operating profit of €31 million in 2024 to a loss of €103 million in its most recent full fiscal year.
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