The collection was dubbed “Antibiblioteca” and set in the palatial, gorgeous reading room of the 19th-century Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève in Paris. Guests were seated at long wooden reading tables with green antique-style reading lamps. Further adding to the theme, showgoers were asked to bring a book along. In the show notes, Valentino called the runway “a visual antilibrary, a catalogue of what remains possible.”
The entire collection showcased creative director Alessandro Michele flexing his maximalist muscles and giving us more, more, more. The mood was fully party-ready, with elements of ’80s excess. The music blared with mentions of party everywhere while the lights above strobed as if the audience was in a club rather than a library. The overwhelming message was instead that you need no occasion to get dressed up.
