Eclectic Looks and Viewing Windows: What Made the Valentino Show So Surprising

The last collection created during Valentino Garavani’s lifetime

Paris Haute Couture Week is in full swing, and Valentino has unveiled its collection titled Specula Mundi. The show was deeply symbolic: it marked the final line created during the lifetime of the fashion house’s founder, Valentino Garavani, who passed away on January 19 at the age of 93.

The format of the presentation was conceptual and strikingly unconventional. Instead of traditional seating, guests were placed in circular rooms, observing the models through small viewing windows. This deliberate distance added an air of mystery to the event and transformed the runway show into something closer to a theatrical performance.

Creative director Alessandro Michele employed the idea of the viewing windows as a reference to the Kaiser-Panorama, a popular late-19th- and early-20th-century device used for the collective viewing of stereoscopic photographs.

The collection itself can confidently be described as a bold expression of eclecticism. The models evoked images of Golden Age Hollywood divas and mythical creatures alike, appearing in looks lavishly embellished with beads and bugle beads, velvet fabrics, fur capes, and golden crowns.

Among the standout pieces on the runway were white jackets inspired by the legendary “White Collection” of 1968, voluminous capes covered in gold sequins worn over turquoise dresses, corsets with oversized Renaissance-style collars, and velvet gowns with exaggerated sleeves.

The final look of the collection was a gold pleated maxi dress.

In the show’s front row, guests included Dakota Johnson in daring lingerie-style shorts, Lily Allen in a polka-dot blouse, and Kirsten Dunst in a playful mini dress.

Photo: Instagram @bella.feoli