Valentino’s ‘Antibiblioteca’ Turns a Paris Library Into a Runway

Valentino turned one of Paris’s grandest reading rooms into a runway on Sunday, Oct. 4, as creative director Alessandro Michele presented his spring/summer 2027 collection, titled “Antibiblioteca,” inside the 19th-century Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève, WWD and Elle reported. Guests were asked to bring a book to the show, and WWD said the books were collected for donation.

The title nods to the “antilibrary,” a term WWD traced to the late Italian writer and philosopher Umberto Eco to describe a collection of unread books. Michele compared those books to the clothes sitting idle in his own wardrobe. “There is something that I like in the idea of having in my closet that beautiful piece that I’m probably never going to wear,” he said in a preview. In its show notes, Valentino called the runway “a visual antilibrary, a catalogue of what remains possible,” Elle reported. Guests sat at long wooden reading tables lit by green antique-style lamps.

The clothes leaned fully into Michele’s maximalism. Elle singled out a strapless, floor-length hot-pink gown with a sculpted bustier bodice that revealed a circular ruffle and a big black bow as it turned, while WWD pointed to a fuchsia satin column with a huge pleated pink rosette train.

The 1980s ran through the lineup. WWD described power blazers worn with lace cycling shorts and jewel-toned satin bustiers mismatched with tasseled and embroidered skirts. Elle listed bow knit skirts, feather-trimmed tops, mermaid skirts, belted leather blazers, opera gloves and marigold ruffled dresses, plus heavily stacked necklaces of pearls, crystal-covered charms and long amber-like beads. The closest thing to everyday wear, according to WWD, was double-pleated jeans, plaid shirts and baseball caps reading “Villain Teen.”

The book theme carried into the audience. Elle named Cynthia Erivo and stylist Law Roach among the guests, and WWD reported that Alexander Skarsgård brought a collection of Icelandic sagas. “It’s basically the ‘Iliad’ of the Norse culture,” he said. The Zoe Report added that Erivo carried James Baldwin’s “Giovanni’s Room,” and that Naomi Watts, Clairo and Zoey Deutch were also in attendance.

WWD read the collection as an ode to the human touch, noting that the designer is openly ambivalent about high tech. Recalling the robots that walked at a recent Vogue World event in Milan, Michele said, “I’m not against technology, but life is about me and the things that surround me. I don’t want to lose everything. I don’t need a second brain.” He added, “I don’t want to live fashion just as something that belongs to numbers. I want to give back to fashion what fashion has always given me.”

The numbers are part of the backdrop. WWD noted that Valentino went from an operating profit of 31 million euros in 2024 to a loss of 103 million euros in its most recent full fiscal year. Elle observed that while many labels this season leaned toward ease and lightness, Valentino’s message was that you need no occasion to get dressed up. For more style news, visit our Lifestyle page.

Verification: The venue, the “Antibiblioteca” title and book-bringing request, the maximalist and 1980s-inflected looks, the “Villain Teen” caps and the guest details are reported by WWD (Joelle Diderich, Oct. 4) and Elle (Kristen Bateman, Oct. 4). Michele’s quotes, the Eco reference and Valentino’s financial results come from WWD; the show-notes line comes from Elle.