Seven Things to Know About Alessandro Michele Ahead of His First Valentino Fashion Show

Alessandro Michele will stage his debut presentation for Valentino on Sunday during Paris Fashion Week. The designer, who departed Gucci in 2022, was announced as the house’s new creative director in March. Michele succeeds Valentino’s longtime creative director, Pierpaolo Piccioli, whose exit was revealed days prior to Michele’s appointment.

In an Instagram post, Michele wrote that his new role comes with “enormous responsibility.”

“[Valentino] has engraved the word ‘beauty’ in a collective story made of research and extreme grace. My first thought goes to this story: to the richness of its cultural and symbolic heritage, to the sense of wonder that it has been able to constantly generate, to the very precious identity that its founding fathers, Valentino Garavani and Giancarlo Giammetti, gave it with unbridled love. These are references that have always been an indisputable source of inspiration for me and to which I intend to pay tribute by rereading them through my creative vision.”

Ahead of Michele’s first Valentino fashion show, WWD provides a primer on the designer, as well as his legacy at labels like Gucci and Fendi.

Michele’s Parents Inspired His Love of Art

Speaking to WWD in 2017, Michele explained the impact that his father, an airline technician, had on his passion for the arts. His mother was also in a creative field, working as an assistant to a movie executive.

“My father was an artist,” Michele said. “He really influenced my life a lot. So did my mom. They fascinated me when I was a kid because my mom was obsessed with movies and my dad, with art and other things. And nature and animals and crazy things. So I think that I have been so lucky because I grew up with all of that.”

Michele Worked Under Karl Lagerfeld at Fendi

At the age of 25, Michele was hired at Fendi. Under the direction of Karl Lagerfeld and Silvia Venturini Fendi, he designed leather goods and met his future Gucci predecessor, Frida Giannini. Michele was eventually promoted to senior accessories designer.

Decades later, Michele still remembers his time at the label fondly. In a 2017 interview with WWD, Michele said that Fendi was “the best place to learn how to be a creative person.”

“My experience with the brand was really impressive. Fendi is the only Italian brand — it felt like a couture studio. It was not the kind of studio that we usually see in fashion, in prêt-a-porter,” Michele explained. “It was very open to research. It was full of different input from outside because Karl and Silvia, they really loved and they still love to inject always something new.”

Michele Began Working at Gucci in 2002

Michele worked at Gucci for over a decade before he was appointed creative director. When Giannini was hired at the fashion house in 2002, she brought Michele along with her. He worked as an accessories designer under Tom Ford before he was appointed as Giannini’s associate creative director in 2011. In that role, he was responsible for Gucci’s leather goods, shoes, jewelry and home collections.

Michele Is Credited with Reinventing and Reviving Gucci

Giannini suddenly exited Gucci in 2015, with Michele rising to her former post. At the time, Gucci’s sales were in decline, and president and chief executive officer Marco Bizzarri sought someone with a new vision for the brand, telling WWD that Michele was “exactly the right person” for the role.

His specialty in accessories was particularly appealing, a source familiar with the company explained to WWD in 2015: “The Michele option reinforces the idea that Gucci wants to get back on track with hot accessories. There hasn’t been an iconic product for the past three or four seasons.”

Michele got right to work, completely redesigning Gucci’s men’s fall 2015 collection within days. He took his first bow for the brand at that fashion show, though his first official Gucci presentation as creative director was the fall 2015 women’s collection. The designer wasted no time in reinventing Gucci’s image, crafting eclectic, gender-fluid looks that would soon become his trademark.

Michele didn’t, however, abandon Gucci staples such as horse-bit loafers, canvas handbags and the label’s iconic GG logo — instead, he revived them with funky twists like fur lining, crystal embellishments and embroidery. This fueled Gucci’s accessories sales, which have historically been the house’s cash cow.

By 2017, Gucci saw its strongest revenue increase in 20 years, with organic sales in the first quarter increasing by 48.3 percent to 1.35 billion euros, or $1.44 billion.

During Michele’s tenure, Gucci ceased using real fur, introduced high jewelry and relaunched its beauty line.

Michele Recently Authored His First Book

The designer’s autobiography, “La Vita delle Forme: Filosofia del Reincanto [The Life of Shapes: Philosophy of Re-enchantment]” was published by HarperCollins Italia in May. The book, cowritten by Emanuele Coccia, bridges Michele’s passions for fashion and philosophy.

Per his writings, the creative director believed he would be fired following his first Gucci show. “I wasn’t thinking of the career,” Michele explained. “I am what I am and I just did what I thought was natural. I just wanted to talk about beauty.”

He also discussed learning about the notion of gender fluidity. “I had never heard of this term before,” Michele wrote. “I just work looking at what I see around me, and at the time it seemed perfectly normal to me.”

Michele Is an Avid Collector

In his book, Michele admits to collecting several kinds of objects, including books, statues, skirts, chairs, pants, cups, paintings and vintage shoes.

“Everything lives, independently from their shapes, size, purpose and importance,” the designer wrote. “It is not difficult to perceive the breath of what surrounds us: when you pay attention, everything starts to speak. And it is for this reason that observing any object is like entering a library where things whisper, murmur, sing.”

One of Michele’s odder collections is his menagerie of ceramic pugs, some of which date back to the 1700s. This spurred his interest in working at the legacy porcelain brand Ginori — owned by Gucci — where he served as creative director from 2011 to 2014.

Michele Debuted His First Valentino Collection in 2024

Michele surprised the fashion world with his first collection for Valentino, revealed in June. The resort 2025 line comprises 171 looks that span womenswear and menswear.

The designer delved into Valentino’s archives for inspiration, nodding to multiple decades including the ’50s, ’70s and ’80s.

“I love objects, I have an intimate relationship with material things, it’s almost like a religious meeting and I feel a great privilege to be able to touch [Garavani’s] designs, as if they were a relic part of his life,” Michele told WWD. “The rugs, the Chinese vases, the beautiful things he surrounded himself with conditioned his designs. He amplified beauty. I share the same kind of relationship with fashion as a great vehicle for freedom.”