Alessandro Michele is not interested in constant reinvention. In the text accompanying Valentino’s Fall-Winter 25-26 campaign, he speaks about “not opening a new chapter, rather delving into a theme already unfolding.” He continues: “I chose not to consume the latest thing. Rather, I decided to let the images and the interrogations sediment and grow within a vertical excavation.”

Hence, we return to the infamous red public toilets where Michele staged his Fall-Winter 25-26 show, a place where “private and relational dimension mingle.” Waiting outside the stalls are a number of famous faces, such as singer Clairo and performance artist Kembra Pfahler. In his vision of the campaign, Michele quotes Hannah Arendt’s writings on the relationship between being and appearing. “Clothes certify their status of second skin,” he writes. “The means through which we decide to show ourselves on the stage of life.”