How does the opulence of art and fashion survive in even the darkest political climates? This was the question Valentino’s creative director Alessandro Michele answered with his SS26 show, titled “Fireflies”. Hosted today inside Paris’ cultural centre, the Arab World Institute, Alessandro Michele’s SS26 collection for Valentino was all about fireflies. Actual fireflies, but also metaphorical ones.
The collection was inspired by a letter written by Italian poet and writer Pier Paolo Pasolini from 1941, in which he spoke about how fireflies bring the ability to see light in the darkest of nights, a metaphor for seeing light and beauty even in the darkest times. Written during Italy’s fascist regime, Pasolini wrote about how poetic glimmers and the beauty of art can shine through to survive the darkness.
In 2025, at Valentino’s show, we took our seats as the show space darkened, and the likes of Lana del Rey, Amelia Gray, Joseph Quinn, fashion editors and content creators alike were waiting for the models to come out, Pamela Anderson’s narration flooded the room, as she recounted Pasolini’s letter.
The collection was rich in colours and textures you’d find in a night garden: royal blues, purples, pinks, and yellows, trompe l’oeil firefly-shaped jewels, flowers instead of Michele’s typical pussybows, floral rims on sleeves, floral prints, extravagant embellishments. Black sheer fabrics in laces and polka dots captured the night sky illuminated with the golds, silvers and metallics of Michele’s eveningwear.
Pamela Anderson’s narration continued: in 1975, Pasolini wrote an article in which he expressed that fascism had taken a new form, talking about “the disappearance of the fireflies”, but French philosopher and art historian Georges Didi-Huberman argued against that. Fireflies haven’t disappeared, we’re just too blind to see them, he said.
“We need to reawaken the gaze,” wrote creative director Alessandro Michele in his show notes. “Fashion, in this sense, can become a precious ally.” Like fireflies, clothes are fleeting sparks in the dark, which “unveil gateways of possibilities and nourish imagination with political force”.
A moving collection by Alessandro Michele, which brought together the darkness of soft leathers, fine laces, and clean tailoring with the luminosity of his beautiful jewels, statement accessories, and embellishments. Valentino’s SS26 show fused escapism with realism, just like fireflies in the night.
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