Valentino returned to its roots with 1980s-inspired catwalk in Rome

Italian fashion house Valentino returned to its roots Thursday with a 1980s-inspired catwalk show in one of Rome’s most spectacular venues, two months after the death of founder Valentino Garavani. Around 700 people including Hollywood star Gwyneth Paltrow were invited to the show held in the galleries of the Palazzo Barberini, a Baroque palace now home to masterpieces by Caravaggio, Raphael and many others.

Valentino, known for dressing some of the world’s most glamorous women, normally shows in Paris, despite having been established in the Italian capital in 1960. But creative director Alessandro Michele chose to return to the Eternal City for his fall/winter 2026-27 collection, the first for ready-to-wear since the founder’s death aged 93 on January 19.

Under Pietro da Cortona’s spectacular ceiling fresco, “The Triumph of Divine Providence”, male and female models walked out onto fake grass in outfits heavily inspired by the 1980s. There were strong shoulders, cinched waists and mini-skirts, accessorised with glittering oversized jewellery, including giant pearls and chunky pendants. Michele, who took over in 2024, said that during the late 1980s and 1990s “Valentino was still working like crazy and making, from his hands, beauty”.

Valentino, known for dressing some of the world’s most glamorous women, normally shows in Paris, despite having been established in the Italian capital in 1960.

It was a time of “positivity” and “empowerment”, when women in particular were becoming more in control of their bodies, he told reporters backstage. The final dress of Michele’s collection on Thursday, a longsleeved gown with a deep cut at the back, was a showstopper in the house’s signature red. “Red is very difficult to manage,” Michele admitted, but said it was crucial to the brand.

The models reached the galleries via Francesco Borromini’s helical staircase, one of two in the palazzo, the other a square design by Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Commissioned at the same time, they reflect the palazzo’s ability to have “divergent forces cohabit without neutralising one another”, Michele said in the show notes.

Models walk as they present creations from Valentino's Fall/Winter 2026/2027 collection in Rome, Italy. Photos: Agencies

Along the same vein, the collection — entitled “Interferenze” (interferences) — demonstrated contrasts between “code and deviation, lightness and gravity”, he wrote. Valentino, who dressed A-listers from Jackie Kennedy and Elizabeth Taylor to Princess Diana and Julia Roberts, became synonymous with glamour and beauty. Speaking to reporters, Michele said the designer made things that were “perfect”, but “we no longer live in that perfect world”.

The invite-only, black-tie show was a lavish affair, with many guests invited to a dinner afterwards, and brought to the venues in official cars. It was broadcast live on Valentino’s social media channels and on big screens around Rome, Milan and Naples — but it was those inside the room who the house wanted to wow. Of the estimated 700 guests invited, 200 were journalists and VIPs, with the rest VIC — very important clients, according to a Valentino insider.

Agence France-Presse