Valentino SS27 Brought the Noise to the Library
A self-described “joyful reservoir of forms,” Alessandro Michele’s SS27 collection was packed with colorful, layered, pattern-clashing looks.
Summary
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Alessandro Michele’s SS27 Valentino “Antilibrary” collection frames garments as imaginative relics that transcend standard commercial functionality.
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The runway contrasted glamorous, maximalist womenswear featuring lace and feathers with unconventional, casual menswear highlighting exposed boxers and clashing patterns.
For Spring/Summer 2027, Valentino brought its “Antilibrary” runway show to Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève in Paris. In the show notes, creative director Alessandro Michele compared his musings on fashion to writer Umberto Eco’s concept of the antilibrary as “the collection of books in one’s library that remain unread.”
“Every season, garments are conceived and created to meet very different trajectories. Some of them will cross the space of the show only once; others will stay alive in the images that hold their fleeting appearance; while others will enter the wardrobes to remain almost untouched, cherished like relics,” Michele shared. He described the collection as belonging to “a realm that transcends the logic of functionality and consumption,” forming “a joyful reservoir of forms, aesthetic sensibilities, silhouettes, and ways of inhabiting the body.”
Beginning with women’s, the first looks set the tone of the show. Floral lace, satins, and ruched and plisse fabrics composed dresses and two-piece looks with hues of pink, lilac, magenta, gold, and green. Fringe and feather trims brought a glamorous feel to the collection, building on Michele’s maximalist tendencies. Then, the men’s looks introduce a more casual side of the collection. The first look features a black “Villain Teen” cap, a tan leather trench coat, light green pajama pants, and color-blocked sandals. The second look pairs a hot pink version of the cap with a brown sequined cardigan and light-wash, loose-fit denim with plaid boxers peeking above the waist.
The plaids continued throughout the show in classic shirting, often tucked into the bottoms, and the boxers continued to ride above waistbands in various patterns and colors. One blue plaid shirt for men transitions into a sequined floral fabric at the sleeves, worn with a pink cap, a deep V-neck, and white trousers. In a women’s look, a green plaid button-up is tucked into a translucent lace skirt with jeweled embellishments. For a boxer-forward look, a black-and-white polka dot shirt featuring a floral sequined bib is tucked into blue foulard boxers and brown wool trousers.
To close the show, gowns and dresses were interspersed with colorful men’s looks featuring unconventional silhouettes: an experimentally tailored light blue top with navy plisse trousers, and a violet blazer worn with a red fabric belt at the waist. Michele closed the show with a neutral men’s suit and tie covered in a translucent sheath, and a magenta maxi dress with a plisse train.
Michele’s philosophical ruminations on the clothing’s imaginative qualities and “expressive potential” are reflected in the collection’s untamed, and at times clashing, sensibilities. There are fabric pairings, color palettes, and styling choices that feel out of the ordinary or unrealistic for the commercial market, but Michele emphasizes this point exactly in his manifesto.
