Valentino Spring 2025 Ad Campaign

Review of Valentino ‘Pavillon des Folies’ Spring 2025 Ad Campaign by Creative Director Alessandro Michele with Art Director Christopher Simmonds and Photographer & Director Glen Luchford with models Aaron Danner, Aimee Byrne, Arek John, Gen Itakura, Glory Adjei, Kieran Richber, Pati Bogusz, Summer Dirx, Weiyi Fang

Valentino takes us further down the rabbit hole with its Spring 2025 campaign. Celebrating Alessandro Michele’s “Pavillon des Folies” collection, the campaign was created in collaboration with art director Christopher Simmonds and photographer & director Glen Luchford.

The narrative dives deeper into Michele’s subtly surrealist reincarnations of era-spanning historical fashion references. Drawing equally on Helmut Newton’s 80s campaigns for YSL and Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, the imagery situates us in an opulent manor that has been overtaken by a celebration of eclectic and elegant personalities. While at first everything seems prim and posh, a closer investigation reveals a subtly bizarre undercurrent – most readily embodied by the man in a rabbit mask who lurks in many of the compositions.

The accompanying short film deepens the sense of a subversion of historical propriety: paint cans, flower vases, and, yes, glasses of milk are spilled as the soundtrack shifts from sophisticated string arrangements to early 90s dance music.

We’re still trying to figure out where Michele ends and where Valentino begins; the creative director’s tenure has seen the brand take such a sharp turn toward something very similar to his time at Gucci that it can be almost difficult to meet the design perspective on its own terms. The same goes for his cinematic, surreal, and nostalgic approach to ad campaigns.

That being said, though it may be divisive among Valentino fans, there is an undeniable wealth of craft and style on display here, and the campaign is a feast for the senses. We won’t mind being lost in wonderland for a little while longer.