Alessandro Michele has unveiled his debut advertising campaign for Valentino’s Fall 2025 collection with a message that urges society to slow down and rediscover the beauty in everyday life. Titled The Poetics of Everyday, Michele’s campaign breaks away from the chaos and noise of modern digital culture, inviting audiences to embrace subtlety and stillness in a world overwhelmed by fast-moving images and endless information. In a personal letter accompanying the campaign, he expressed concern about today’s “era of violent uproar” and the “crisis of perception” caused by overstimulation. According to Michele, this cultural condition requires a return to a more attentive, lingering gaze—one that appreciates quiet, mundane gestures and routines as the true rhythm of life.
Photographed and directed by Glen Luchford, the campaign captures moments of childlike innocence and simplicity: models enjoying ice cream outside a parlor, playing with a yo-yo, or trying to solve a Rubik’s Cube. These scenes are frozen in time with a still-life quality that adds a layer of timelessness and intimacy. Michele explained that he imagined “a fixed camera focused on life, as it happens”—an effort to “scan the poetical density” hidden in life’s ordinariness. In his view, the everyday should not be seen merely as the backdrop for extraordinary events, but rather as a place filled with “glows and joyful epiphanies.”
The cast for the campaign reflects this blend of heritage and youth, featuring Kai Schreiber, Naomi Watts and Liev Schreiber’s daughter; Scarlett White, daughter of Jack White and Karen Elson; Amelia Gray, daughter of Harry Hamlin and Lisa Rinna; as well as actress Sophie Thatcher, Lorenzo Zurzolo, Marie Sophie Wilson, Yuri Fukuhara, Sanique, Yilan Hua, Aimee Patricia Byrne, Yar Aguer, Luukas Niskanen, Bukwop, Suyong Jung, Hank Akerlund, Glory, and Franklin Smith. Michele’s selection reinforces the message that the poetic exists across all walks of life, whether experienced by well-known names or anonymous faces.
Speaking about his creative process and personal routines, Michele revealed that long walks remain an essential part of his daily life, unchanged by fame or professional responsibility. Although he now occasionally encounters people who recognize him, he continues to find comfort and meaning in “small daily actions.” He believes that “the universe lives in small things,” a philosophy that shaped the entire campaign’s tone. To maintain calm amid the frenzy of modern life, he credits the grounding presence of loved ones and the decision to avoid self-created stress by focusing only on what brings him joy and purpose.
Michele also shared that the campaign’s theme emerged from a desire to depict life in motion, filled with unspoken poetry and beauty. The ice cream parlor, which features prominently in the visuals, functions as a nostalgic, almost fantastical space—a symbol of timeless joy that invites even adults to reconnect with their inner child. For Michele, this location serves as a “stargate,” transporting viewers into a world where fleeting pleasures like ice cream become portals to memory and imagination.
As for his continued partnership with Glen Luchford, Michele emphasized the deep creative bond between them. He noted that Luchford’s photographic work from the 1990s has long been a source of inspiration and that the photographer was the natural and only choice for bringing this campaign to life. Describing Luchford as “a great master of light” and “a poet,” Michele sees in him not just a collaborator but an artistic extension of his own vision. Their long-standing relationship has enabled a seamless exchange of ideas, with Luchford able to see and translate Michele’s storytelling into visual poetry.
With this campaign, Alessandro Michele offers not just a new vision for Valentino, but a wider cultural message. In a world constantly speeding up, he asks us to stop and linger—to rediscover the forgotten beauty in the gentle choreography of daily life.
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