The new luxury is happening offline.

As Paris Fashion Week, and Fashion Month as a whole, officially wrapped up, we found ourselves taking a minute off, looking at the industry from a bird’s eye view, trying to see the current landscape across all the shows, events, presentations, viral moments, dinners, name it, we’ve seen it. Within all of those moments, there was one key moment that for us signaled something very unique, part reverting back to the analog times, part asking us what we’re actually looking for in a show, and most importantly - giving back to the community. Yes, we are talking about the Valentino Spring 2027 Ready-to-Wear show, which was championed by none other than the great Alessandro Michele.

Intermission here - this is what we had to say about the show - È il mondo di Michele e noi ci viviamo soltanto. Alessandro Michele just completed another beautiful collection for @maisonvalentino , this time while previewing a loud one (colors!!) inside Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève. So Michele. So Theatrical. So good. His fourth ready-to-wear collection for the house was surrounded by a concept borrowed from the Lebanese-American scholar Nassim Nicholas Taleb, “Anti-Library” - the value of unread books is much larger than that of the ones that were read. Now apply it to fashion and garments, and what do you get? “Even the garments that we will never wear, no differently than those books sitting unopened on our shelves, still speak to us of the lives we could have lived. Not as regrets, but as promises,” @alessandro_michele said. By spending time with the house’s heritage (you can only imagine), the main task for Michele was to find that balance between the elegance and glamour laid down by the late Valentino Garavani, and the eclectic language that he is known for ever since his career started at Fendi, around 25 years ago, and through his long tenure at the house of Gucci as well. That’s a big task if you ask us. Need that Villain Teen hat!! Besides that, the Valentino man is more casual than the Valentino woman. That difference might be Michele’s Anti-Library version of the house; looking into what he doesn’t know yet about the figures to be explored… An important good cause here as well - in the spirit of the Antibiblioteca, guests were invited to bring a book to the show, new or from their own library. The books will be distributed to select public libraries in Paris and other cities through Bibliothèques Sans Frontières and Fauvettes City Club organizations!

Ok we back. That book donation is a sincere gesture that also serves as a brand strategy, one that collides perfectly with the ethos that drove the whole collection, and the location fits it too. By itself the idea of asking guests to bring a book to the show seems very analog-driven and has no force to generate EMV or blow up on social media. It’s a book after all. It don’t have reception whatsoever and definitely don’t have socials. So what’s actually happening in this (book)case? In reverse, while Valentino chose to focus on the community aspect of it, all it took was one person sharing it on Instagram for the idea to spread like wildfire. The brand generates that reach without relying on the front row ambassador tactic we have seen across the landscape, from major houses to others as well. Genius.

Most of the time, when guests take part in such moments, they know it’s marketing and as such the content reflects that as well, but that’s not the case in this case. The end goal is to get the books to the community, and with that in mind the guests are more eager to support unconditionally, since they know there is a good reason to take part in this. Their contribution to the cause simply champions every single social act that can be done through a fashion show. And everyone still gets their numbers up, win-win-win if you ask us. For us it’s not a question that other houses probably already have their comms teams inspecting every single aspect of it, so they can adapt as soon as next season, as the audience itself is looking for those moments. Maybe they are tired of social media and influencers? Well, we all are. The analog times are coming back, and the houses that see it for what it is will benefit the most, and their audiences too.