Valentino Garavani’s death came just nine days before the Maison’s show at Paris Fashion Week—far too little time to redesign the collection. Still, creative director Alessandro Michele chose to honor the founder by opening the show with an audio excerpt from The Last Emperor, the 2008 documentary recounting Valentino’s final years at the helm of his fashion house.

In the recording, Valentino speaks of beauty as the guiding thread of his career. Michele echoed this idea in a long Instagram post published ahead of the show, referring to “new promises of beauty” safeguarded by the many people who worked alongside Valentino every day—from seamstresses and artisans to designers and embroiderers. Michele also paid tribute to his predecessors, Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli, as well as Giancarlo Giammetti, Valentino’s lifelong partner.

Describing Valentino as a “mythological figure,” Michele drew inspiration from myth itself—particularly cinematic myth—for Specula Mundi, the Spring/Summer collection presented on January 28. Structured, exaggerated silhouettes and shimmering metallic garments evoked the image of timeless divas, blending collective memory with a vision that looks both to the present and the future.