Grappling with the relevance of fashion today, Alessandro Michele presented 80 opulent looks designed to “reawaken the gaze.”
Summary
- Alessandro Michele’s SS26 Valentino collection, “Fireflies,” utilizes the metaphor of bioluminescence to explore beauty as a form of resistance in challenging times.
- Inspired by the complex writings of Italian intellectual Pier Paolo Pasolini, the collection argues that fashion can illuminate hope and combat the darkness of cultural conformity.
- 80 opulent looks emerged from darkness, highlighting the use of sequins, silks, and dramatic jewelry to create fleeting moments of illumination.
In times of global strife, the role of high fashion can feel unclear, even frivolous. This existential weight is clearly something Alessandro Michele has been grappling with as he navigates his creative directorship at Valentino. How does one justify the creation of luxury when survival is the prevailing concern for many? For the Spring 2026 collection, Michele found his answer not in escapism, but in intellectual confrontation, drawing inspiration from the potent metaphors of Italian filmmaker and poet Pier Paolo Pasolini.
The collection, titled “Fireflies,” is rooted in Pasolini’s writings, beginning with a letter penned in 1941. Amid the brutality of World War II and the shadow of oppression, Pasolini observed the fireflies, interpreting their fleeting, erratic light as a defiant act of life, desire, and resilience. They were poetry embodied, surviving the darkest night.
However, the inspiration is twofold. Decades later, in 1975, Pasolini revisited the metaphor to lament “the disappearance of the fireflies.” He argued that the old darkness had been replaced by a new, insidious threat: cultural standardization and conformism, a homogenization as pervasive as globalization itself. This new night, he felt, had devoured the individualistic light of the fireflies.
Michele’s collection serves as a rebuttal to this despair. Referencing the philosophy that the light hasn’t truly been extinguished, but rather that our ability to perceive it has atrophied, the collection is a deliberate attempt to “reawaken the gaze.” It presents fashion as a necessary ally in illuminating hidden beauty and resisting uniformity.
This approach aligns perfectly with Michele’s established methodology. He views himself not merely as a designer but as an “art archaeologist” or “historicist of garments.” His process is one of excavation, operating on the belief that clothes are rendered meaningless without their historical and cultural context. By unearthing disparate aesthetic fragments from history, whether from the Valentino archives or Pasolini’s intellectual legacy, he stitches together different worlds, creating an assemblage as complex as a mosaic in an ancient Roman villa.
Michele stripped away the elaborate environments he is often known for, opting instead for a stark black set. The only illumination came from swirling, strobe-like lights designed to mimic the fireflies’ bioluminescent dance. This heightened the drama significantly, focusing the audience entirely on the garments as they emerged from the darkness. The intellectual framework of the show was delivered audibly, with Pamela Anderson reading the poignant show notes.
The fireflies themselves were realized through intricate beadwork, shimmering sequins, and metallic threads. While the mood was serious, the clothes retained a sense of enjoyment. Lively pops of color and Michele’s signature antique-inspired floral adornments provided necessary moments of pure, unadulterated pleasure.
“Fireflies” ultimately served as a potent dose of optimism. It was a carefully measured execution of Michele’s vision, arguing forcefully for the political power of imagination. His constellations of beauty, designed to pierce the gloom, deliver a manifesto for an aesthetic that resists standardization—a declaration that even the most fleeting glimmer is essential for navigating the dark.
