A form never exists on its own, but always arises from the encounter between different images—in what we might call a natural relationship between different forces, whether they are in contrast or in perfect harmony with one another. From the very beginning of his career, Alessandro Michele has always relied on this necessary and redemptive blend of elements: there is no single, linear path, but every idea, inspiration, and creative spark is the result of an encounter between multiple elements. If there is no tension, there can be no lyricism; if there is no obstacle, there can be no spectacle. And it is no coincidence that the presence of an obstacle constitutes one of the foundations of theater: it is, in fact, what generates conflict and, consequently, sets the dramatic action in motion.
And there’s certainly no shortage of “drama” in Valentino’s new FW26 campaign, crafted under the creative direction of Alessandro Michele and brought to life through the cinematic lens of photographer Glen Luchford. “Interferenze”—the name of the campaign—revolves precisely around this delicate, complex, and utterly fascinating balance between diverse yet complementary forces and inspirations, where harmony does not arise from a unanimous vision of the whole, but from the natural contradictions we encounter in architectural spaces, in nature, and in humanity as a whole. The choice of the Centrale Montemartini in Rome as the campaign’s location, therefore, should come as no surprise: it is the perfect embodiment of this approach to life and creativity, which in some ways we might describe as inevitable.
As Alessandro Michele himself stated in a letter, the Centrale Montemartini stands out precisely because of its hybrid nature—suspended between classical sculpture and industrial archaeology—and serves as the generative principle behind the campaign. Built in the early 20th century on the left bank of the Tiber, the power plant was Rome’s first public facility dedicated to the production of electricity, before being decommissioned and converted, in 1997, into a museum housing part of the Capitoline Museums’ collections. The images do not use this place merely as a backdrop: they extend its logic. The Centrale Montemartini thus becomes the stage for an impossible imagination—a space in which elements that normally belong to incompatible worlds cease to exclude one another and begin to coexist, opening up new narrative possibilities.
“The Centrale Montemartini is, in fact, a metaphysical place, a middle ground where the age of the gods and that of machines, myth and progress, memory and invention cease to belong to separate temporalities. Here, the classical beauty of Roman statues engages in dialogue with the imposing monumentality of the turbines and boilers that fueled industrial modernity. Fragments of a pagan eternity emerge among the cathedrals of technology, in a space that defies all classification. More than a museum, the Centrale Montemartini appears as an alchemical space in which the interplay between different worlds is continually staged. From this encounter springs a transmutation that does not affect the individual elements, but rather the force field generated between them. “Thus, something further takes shape—something that cannot be reduced to the simple sum of its parts,” wrote the fashion designer and creative director of Valentino.
The “Interferenze” campaign extends this principle to the visual realm through a visual composition that draws on cinematic language: contrasting yet soft, striking and theatrical, dark and luminous at the same time. Light cuts through the space in sudden bursts, revealing fragments of bodies, marble silhouettes, and gigantic metal frameworks. The lightness of the garments meets the weight of steel, while the bodies’ gestures seem to echo those carved in stone. Tension and beauty—because one does not exclude the other.
[📷 Courtesy of Valentino]
