Alessandro Michele’s Valentino Debut Resuscitates The Bow Trend

Fashion moves fast, but Valentino’s new creative director moves faster.

Less than two months after stepping into his role at the house, Alessandro Michele (formerly of Gucci) shared his first designs for Valentino on June 16, far in advance of his planned debut during the Spring 2025 season. The resulting men and women’s 2025 resort collection includes 191 ready-to-wear looks that are heavily inspired by Valentino’s archive and Michele’s own tastes, according to Vogue. “Probably I’ll be remembered as the one who has the distinction of doing things quickly,” he says.

Also of note is the inclusion of many, many bows. After 2023 was repeatedly hailed as the year of the bow, we’re now already seeing eager post-mortems discussing the end of the accent; but in a seeming rejection of that declaration, most of the women’s footwear in Michele’s new collection feature bows. Simple satin, white leather, or floral-patterned court shoes with bows across the toe box. Strappy evening shoes with jewel-encrusted bows. Rubber-soled Mary Janes with big bow closures. Sneakers laced up the ankles like pointe shoes.

Around the neck, we see small bow appliqués and the return of the exaggerated pussybows that brought a degree of androgyny to Michele’s early menswear looks at Gucci. And finally, bows find themselves into the hair not as ribbons, but as jeweled barrettes or sculptural brooches.

There are not the girlish, floppy bows we fell in love with last year. Here, they’re scaled down to their more traditional role as decorative flourishes and practical closures, joining a choir of fringe, knots, tassels, ruffles, brooches, and other archive-inspired details. So while bows might not be the only feature that matters, they’re still going strong.