excerpt: Valentino. Spring/Summer 2026 - Milan Fashion Week

 

"...And not to forget, sexuality and sexual expression is, at its core, a counterculture projection, that became taboo and extremely misogynistic through the DVD excesse of the 1990s, to the waves of digitized pornography, at the start of the new millennium, to take it back would let sex become more openingly intimate, maybe even hedonistic, without the commercialized digital relay.  And with Michele's latest collection, he has very much offered that carnal quirkness of eros as rebellion, quoted as saying, in relation to the collection, "to make people dream, to try to escape, not just from reality, but from the idea that you can do nothing."  And Michele's parallel reality dreamlike styles are just what we need, maybe when the smoke does eventually clear, and the dankness is lifted, we return to a period of change, not perfect, it never is, but enough for us to revel in its distinction from Fascism, and real enough for us to feel it, even if it is just a moment in time.  We don't need them, the powers at be, attempting to structure our society and lives to their Far Right template.  Let's share the chaos with each other, and enjoy the change."

Bravo Alessandro Michele!

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(A.Glass 2025)

Full review:  chiasmusmagazine.blogspot.com/2025/11/valentino-springsummer-2026-milan.html