VALENTINO - Cruise 2027 Feels Like a Private Archive

WHY VALENTINO CRUISE 2027 FEELS LIKE A PRIVATE ARCHIVE

written SARAH ARENDTS

Valentino Cruise 2027 treats clothes as evidence of private life. In Liv Liberg’s campaign at Villa Gaia Gandini in Milan, Alessandro Michele’s collection sits among rooms that already feel occupied by memory, with coats, prints, shoes and bags carrying the pressure of people who have dressed for themselves before anyone looked.

VALENTINO / Cruise 2027 Collection

VALENTINO / Cruise 2027 Collection

The collection places women’s and men’s wardrobes inside the same emotional register. A floral print has the confidence of something found in a family photograph. A coat sits on the body with deliberate weight. Tailoring softens around the figure, while decorative surfaces give each look a sense of attachment. Michele is interested in the way garments become personal before they become public, the way a sleeve, a collar or a pair of shoes can suggest a life already in motion.

Cruise often belongs to travel, yet here the idea of movement feels closer to interior life. The collection creates characters through clothing that seems chosen with private logic. There is elegance, but it comes through possession rather than polish. A bag is held like something needed, shoes alter posture, prints bring memory into the image, and ornament becomes part of behaviour.

VALENTINO / Cruise 2027 Collection

VALENTINO / Cruise 2027 Collection

Liv Liberg’s photographs sharpen that reading: shot at Villa Gaia Gandini in Milan, the campaign places George Anderson, Valery Sergeva, Yar Aguer, Gaetan Bianchi, Dario Tonin and Khadim Diouff inside a setting filled with domestic gravity. The villa gives the collection a lived frame. Walls, mirrors and furniture hold their own presence, making the clothes feel observed by the rooms as much as by the camera. Liberg’s images carry a controlled intimacy and the models appear caught during a pause, close to speech or just after it. Their gestures keep the campaign away from pure display. A hand rests near a bag and a body turns slightly into the room.

This is where Michele’s Valentino feels most precise, because his work for the Maison has often dealt with memory, excess and character, but Cruise 2027 gives those ideas a more domestic pressure. The clothes do not ask to be decoded as symbols. They work through wear, through mood, through the friction between private taste and public image.

VALENTINO / Cruise 2027 Collection

VALENTINO / Cruise 2027 Collection

VALENTINO / Cruise 2027 Collection

VALENTINO / Cruise 2027 Collection

The campaign uses Milan as a house, a stage of possession, a place where fashion enters rooms already charged with time. Valentino Cruise 2027 gains its force from that tension: clothes carrying the trace of someone’s life, photographed in a space that seems to remember its own.

VALENTINO / Cruise 2027 Collection

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all images Courtesy of Valentino

creative director ALESSANDRO MICHELE
photographer LIV LIBERG
hair stylist PAOLO SOFFIATTI
make-up artist JOEL BABICCI
manicurist ROBERTA RODI
models GEORGE ANDERSON, VALERY SERGEVA, YAR AGUER, GAETAN BIANCHI, DARIO TONIN, KHADIM DIOUFF
location VILLA GAIA GANDINI, ROBECCO SUL NAVIGLIO, MILAN, ITALY

Christian Louboutin - Jaden Smith Fronts Fall 2026 Menswear Campaign

Jaden Smith Debuts Fall 2026 Christian Louboutin Menswear Campaign

written MALCOLM THOMAS

Set in a 17th-century chateau in the French countryside, Jaden Smith’s vision for his inaugural Christian Louboutin menswear collection is complete in all its rebellious grandeur. Debuting in January, during Paris Fashion Week Men’s, the Avant-Première collection marked a bold new chapter for the brand.

Christian Louboutin
Fall 2026 Men Ad Campaign

Somewhere between cinema and mythology, shoes were merchandised on antiquity-inspired columns in an elaborate exhibition. Iconographic short films were projected on walls and vintage TV monitors, including one film of Smith’s bare-chested body painted in red, representing the creative director’s full immersion into the role.

Christian Louboutin
Fall 2026 Men Ad Campaign

Christian Louboutin
Fall 2026 Men Ad Campaign

An exploration of performance-driven textures and expressive ideas and styles, such as The Molten Trapman, a rubber-soled boot available in glossy red and white molten paint, was introduced. Other new ideas included Tactical and Multi-Pocket tote bags with titled pockets and compartments, inspired by stone masons and scribes. Re-imagined pieces include Smith’s fresh take on the classic style of the Penny Loafer in addition to the Asclepius Sling and Plato and Moustachou Derby Dots dress shoes. Additional highlights included the Ennio, a cowboy boot with tubular overlay, the Chelsea Gorp, as well as skate shoes available in a myriad of colourways in low and mid-top styles. Accessories include baseball caps, belts, lighter keyrings, and can openers.

Each piece represents a character in a cinematic story. A symbiosis of heritage and individuality, whether perusing classic literature, admiring family portraits or luxuriating on the lawn, Smith’s interpretation of the house of Christian Louboutin spans generations.

Christian Louboutin
Fall 2026 Men Ad Campaign

Christian Louboutin
Fall 2026 Men Ad Campaign

Christian Louboutin
Fall 2026 Men Ad Campaign

Christian Louboutin
Fall 2026 Men Ad Campaign

The Fall 2026 menswear collection is now available in Christian Louboutin stores worldwide, with Jaden Smith making appearances in New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Paris and London.

Christian Louboutin
Fall 2026 Men Ad Campaign

all images (c) Christian Louboutin Press

MISSONI FW 2023 AD Campaign

*New Collection
MISSONI Fall Winter 2023 AD Campaign
A Nocturnal Journey through Milan's Glowing Heartbeat

written Amanda Morentson

The sprawling metropolis of Milan, known for its rich heritage and bustling day-life, transforms into an ethereal dreamscape as the sun dips below the horizon.

Its luminous charm and vast cityscape, steeped in myriad emotions, come alive under the dazzling cloak of night, setting an evocative stage for Missoni's FW23 advertising campaign.

Missoni FALL/WINTER 2023
Ad Campaign
(c) Missoni

With each frame, acclaimed photographer Theo Wenner transports us into this vivid Milanese night, narrating an enchanting tale of escapism, nostalgia, and modern femininity. The mesmerizing Liv Walters, the intriguing Maty Fall, and the ever-dynamic Yang Ling - each of them play pivotal roles in this urban fairytale, bringing Missoni’s narrative to life.

As we traverse through the neon-soaked streets, club lights piercing the darkness with their vibrancy, and the warm, consistent glow of streetlights, the protagonists emerge as seamless amalgamations of timeless elegance and a longing for yesteryears. Clad in resplendent dresses boasting metallic brilliance and cascading chromatic gradients, they embody the spirit of Missoni - a harmonious blend of homage to tradition and audacious identity. Their attires, while deeply rooted in the past, cast a nod towards the future with their avant-garde motifs and textures.

It isn't just the apparels that draw inspiration from the architectural marvel that is Milan; the campaign itself is a visual symphony. The play of heights, swift movements, and the city's mirrored reflections evokes its iconic skyline. And under the mysterious cover of night, this skyline takes on a bewitching allure, drawing us into its restless embrace.

Echoing the sentiment and essence of the FW23 fashion show, the campaign visuals cleverly weave a narrative that oscillates between the dreamy and the real. As the protagonists navigate the city, their journey is accentuated by fleeting moments – vivid flashes, unbridled mirth, and the genuine freedom of light-heartedness. These instances serve as interludes, transporting them back to a singular, irreplaceable memory.

Missoni FALL/WINTER 2023
Ad Campaign
(c) Missoni

"Do you remember the first kiss?" - these words aren't merely a question but an encapsulation of an emotion. A sentiment that transcends the barriers of time, plunging one into the depths of nostalgia.

As dawn edges closer, painting the horizon in hues of amber and gold, our leading ladies find themselves on a rooftop terrace. Here, as time momentarily stands still, they’re caught in a poignant tableau – an intersection of the past's gentle pull and the present's tender embrace.