Valentino Resort 2026
Valentino Resort 2026 is a mise-en-scène of decadence and downtime. Alessandro Michele merges spectacle and intimacy, where luxury is as much about feeling as it is appearance. The collection balances vintage references with a modern anchor, creating a sleek narrative of Gatsby-esque glamour built on precise detail.
Look 15. Designer: Alessandro Michele. Model: Aimee Byrne. Photographer: Marlii Andre. Hair Stylist: Alex Brownsnell. Makeup Artist: Joel Babicci. Set Designer: Victoria Salomoni. Photo available via Tagwalk ©All rights belong to their respective owners. No copyright infringement intended. The model wears a mint, lace flared sleeve gown. The mint blue hue intensifies and is concentrated within the electric lenses of the glasses which works alongside the brown leather bag and black bow heels to offset the pale neutrality, creating a texturally interesting while harmonious look.
Valentino Resort 2026, guided by the hand of creative director Alessandro Michele, is a study in intimate spectacle. Comprising 132 silhouettes—75 womenswear and 57 menswear—the collection is presented not on a runway but through a series of voyeuristic tableaux, frankly laying out its character: defined by stillness, visually and texturally rich, like a spring shower.
Languid models sprawl across a dusty orange silk duvet—some asleep, some thumbing through newspapers or sifting through jewel-studded minaudières, tangerines resting in hand. The stills hum with a certain hedonism, as if we’ve stumbled upon guests from Gatsby’s last Saturday night party, now collapsed in piles of pearls and silk—opulent in their fatigue. Perhaps set designer Victoria Salomoni chose a series of stills over runway presentation to create intimacy, where the model acts less so as a mannequin and more so a muse as to resist the fleeting nature of the catwalk and in turn, the speed of consumption.
The womenswear offers a lavish demonstration of femininity, leaning into a 1920s vocabulary: flapper-esque headbands, tasseled shrugs, and bias-cut silhouettes rendered in washed satins and organza. Occasionally, a ’60s mod-cut blazer or babydoll dress interrupts the lustre—more reminiscent of the Fall/Winter collection, in which Michele played with Dadaist geometry, implementing a modern twist that conjured a Lynchian dreamscape. The Fall/Winter collection leaned heavily into Michele’s geek-chic signature (robustly established during his Gucci era), and can be markedly recognised in the way garments were used to both cloak and obscure the body, with tight hoods reminiscent of orthodox headwraps, and peplum hips that billowed outward like soft armour. Fall/Winter felt like the Girl With the Pearl Earring wandering through NYC, and Resort 2026 is her sylphlike sibling, gently stirring in its silk-padded bed.
Look 33. Designer: Alessandro Michele. Models: Aimee Byrne & Isabella Pascucci. Photographer: Marlii Andre. Hair Stylist: Alex Brownsnell. Makeup Artist: Joel Babicci. Set Designer: Victoria Salomoni. Photo available via Tagwalk ©. All rights belong to their respective owners. No copyright infringement intended. One model lies in a violet paisley dress with moss green Art Deco heels, completed with a deep red capped beret. The other model applies her lipstick, lying on her side in chartreuse lace tights, with a thick purple belt that matches her counterpart’s dress, and a tea-stained floral dress.
Perhaps look 33 best embodies this analysis, two models lie in a state of disarray, legs tangled, one lazily applying lipstick to the other. One wears a violet gown embellished with rococo paisley and trimmed in a plum fur, the other in an early coloured chiffon floral, cinched at the waist with a thick pop art belt and offset with chartreuse lace tights. Both looks are punctuated with staccato heels. There’s a charming incoherence to it all, like dressing up in your grandmother’s wardrobe while high on perfume fumes, then tumbling into bed, a heap of paisley.
Look 47. Designer: Alessandro Michele. Model: Aimee Byrne. Photographer: Marlii Andre. Hair Stylist: Alex Brownsnell. Makeup Artist: Joel Babicci. Set Designer: Victoria Salomoni. Photo available via Tagwalk ©All rights belong to their respective owners. No copyright infringement intended. The model lies in a gentle purple silk gown, detailed with matching lace and fur.
Look 47 features the model swaddled in lilac silks, with threads of ribbon tied around her neck and cascading from the bust. A fur-lined bolero slips off her shoulders as she idly sips from a polystyrene cup. The presence of something so cheap and throwaway within a scene of such obvious luxury brings a kind of tongue-in-cheek drama to the look. Perhaps Michele chose this quiet, almost staged moment of solitude alongside one of the most regal pieces in the collection to suggest that luxury hits hardest when it’s detached.
Look 65. Designer: Alessandro Michele. Model: Isabella Pascucci. Photographer: Marlii Andre. Hair Stylist: Alex Brownsnell. Makeup Artist: Joel Babicci. Set Designer: Victoria Salomoni. Photo available via Tagwalk ©All rights belong to their respective owners. No copyright infringement intended.
Look 65 Is one of the few that dials up the saturation and explores the tonally garish. It continues the legacy of thoughtful layering, featuring a black and yellow striped long sleeve and ¾ length trousers with silver boots peeking out the bottom under an oversized red peacoat. The black leather handbag next to the sleeping model matches the new wave beret, mingling the steely and feminine.The look continues the acute motif of charm surmising the collection, with the model dressed and poised like a cartoon character, the playful randomness of the layers inferring customisability.
The particular positioning of this model in synthesis with the look seems deliberate and thoughtfully composed. The boxy jacket spreads out around her, firmly anchoring her to the centre of the bed. This grounding differentiates from the more elegant looks in the series, featuring models precariously poised around the bed’s edges, limbs daintily stretching and splayed like that of a giselle. The vivid colour blocking evokes an architectural presence akin to a stack of Tetris shapes, yet despite look 65’s departure from the softness of the collection’s majority, it retains a strong vintage flair: the black beret and go-go boots gestures towards the 60s Beatnik and French new, while the primary colours of the look’s sleeve stripes and utilitarian jacket emulate the late 80s. This interplay of form and colour thoroughly enriches the collection through variety.
Look 17. Designer: Alessandro Michele. Model: Aimee Byrne. Photographer: Marlii Andre. Hair Stylist: Alex Brownsnell. Makeup Artist: Joel Babicci. Set Designer: Victoria Salomoni. Photo available via Tagwalk ©. All rights belong to their respective owners. No copyright infringement intended. The model lies in lace tights cuffed with fur under a brown pleated chiffon skirt and oversized graphic tee.
Look 17 is similarly unique- a love letter to the 90s grunge movement. The model strums a Fender Stratocaster in lace leggings and gloves with a sheer skirt and oversized graphic shirt layered atop. The black monochrome look may differ markedly from the majority of the collection on a superficial level, but the lace detailing, fur ankle cuffs and sheer skirt maintain the subtle femininity that trademarks Valentino.
In all, Valentino Resort 2026 strikes a smart balance between nostalgia and modernity, blending luxe fabrics with casual details through deliberate, playful layering. Every look feels effortlessly cool- Michele pulls from different eras but makes it feel completely current. The collection rewards a closer look, with subtle tension between structure, tone, and texture. What really sticks is how it redefines glamour: relaxed and unmistakably personal- luxury that feels lived-in, not distant.
