Anyone who’s ever gotten a compliment on their outfit in the ladies’ room can tell you that the street isn’t the only showcase for style. Today at Paris Fashion Week, Alessandro Michele set his Valentino fall/winter 2025 show on a Lynchian red-lit set that was part locker room, part club bathroom (complete with flashing lights). It served as quite the photo-op backdrop for VIP guests, including Chappell Roan, Barry Keoghan, and Parker Posey.
As “Gods & Monsters” by Lana del Rey played, Michele’s models emerged from stalls or hung out and preened by the sinks. With this collection, which he titled Le Méta-Théâtre des Intimités, or The Meta-Theater of Intimacies, Michele set out to investigate the public-private divide—and question if one even exists. In his show notes, he wrote, “No intimacy can ultimately undress us, no veil can be torn to put us before our true self. Because the idea that there’s an authentic self, untouched by life and its determinations, is misleading.”
Michele made his point about even our most private moments being a performance of sorts by muddling the distinction between what the sociologist Erving Goffman called our “front stage” and “backstage” selves. His models sported mixtures of lingerie, sheer lace, and athleisure. But there were also looks for seeing and being seen: classic, slightly retro suiting, bow-embellished ’40s day dresses and gowns. And even for nightlife, such as a strapless going-out top paired with jeans, early-aughts style. The designer didn’t just mine fashion history in general, but his own. The colorful diamond prints that we saw in his debut couture collection popped up here as well, along with his beloved animal motifs, in the form of a gown emblazoned with a feline face.
As is to be expected, there were maximalist touches aplenty, from embellished sleeves to exaggerated peplums, and accessories abounded, including broad-brimmed hats and ladylike top-handle purses. Michele knows that none of us are getting dressed in a vacuum and that, if life is a performance, we might as well costume ourselves for it.
Véronique Hyland is ELLE’s Fashion Features Director and the author of the book Dress Code, which was selected as one of The New Yorker's Best Books of the Year. Her writing has previously appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, W, New York magazine, Harper’s Bazaar, and Condé Nast Traveler.
