Valentino

For nearly five decades Garavani dressed the century’s most photographed women — from Jacqueline Kennedy’s 1968 wedding dress onward — and made a single saturated shade of red so identifiable it entered the lexicon as rosso Valentino. After the founder’s retirement in 2008, the house was steered by Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli, and then by Piccioli alone, whose sculptural couture kept Rome at the center of the conversation.

Michele arrived in 2024 carrying the maximalist, archive-drunk romanticism that transformed Gucci, and set about reading Valentino’s own archive through that lens — bows, lace, and 1960s silhouettes multiplied into dense, decorative abundance. His Paris shows have made the house one of the season’s most debated tickets.