September 23, 2026 · Fashion · Milan Fashion Week
A dramatic Valentino Haute Couture creation, centuries of Italian craftsmanship, and Gigi Hadid came together to open Vogue World: Milano in unforgettable fashion.
A Fairytale Opening in Milan
When Vogue World: Milano 2026 transformed Milan’s historic Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II into a spectacular runway, Gigi Hadid had the honor of opening the show.
Her entrance immediately established the mood of the evening: romantic, theatrical, historic, and unmistakably Italian.
Hadid appeared in a dramatic Valentino Haute Couture gown designed by Alessandro Michele, taken from the house’s Spring 2025 Haute Couture collection. The look was created as a modern interpretation of Renaissance-era grandeur, making her entrance feel almost like a fashion portrait brought to life.
The Valentino Gown: Craftsmanship Meets History
The gown is more than a dramatic red-carpet moment. It represents the extraordinary amount of craftsmanship behind haute couture.
The dress was constructed from recycled Venetian quilts and reportedly required approximately 1,680 hours of handwork to complete.
Its silhouette combines oversized puff sleeves, a voluminous full skirt, and an ivory organza collar and cuffs. The patchwork construction gives the piece a layered, almost historical quality while Alessandro Michele’s styling pushes it into a distinctly contemporary fashion world.
The result is a look that feels simultaneously Renaissance-inspired and modern—exactly the kind of visual contrast that defined Vogue World: Milano.
Alessandro Michele’s Vision
The gown comes from Alessandro Michele’s first Haute Couture collection for Valentino, presented in Paris in January 2025.
Michele’s approach to the collection was rooted in the idea of bringing together different references, eras, and visual languages. Rather than following a single historical period literally, the designs layered references to create something new.
That philosophy is particularly visible in Hadid’s opening look. The recycled Venetian quilts, romantic organza details, exaggerated proportions, and elaborate construction turn historical inspiration into something theatrical and contemporary.
Gigi Hadid and the Art of the Runway Entrance
Opening a major fashion event requires more than simply wearing a spectacular dress.
Hadid’s appearance worked as a visual introduction to the entire show.
Vogue World: Milano focused heavily on the relationship between Italian craftsmanship, fashion history, technology, and the future of design. Its opening act, The Artisanal Revolution, looked toward Renaissance-era craftsmanship and the human hand behind fashion.
Hadid’s Valentino look therefore functioned almost like the first chapter of a story.
The ornate gown introduced an atmosphere of old-world craftsmanship before the show moved through industrial design, Italian cinema, technology, and speculative ideas about fashion’s future.
A Celebration of Made in Italy
Vogue World: Milano was staged inside the iconic Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, bringing fashion directly into one of Milan’s most recognizable architectural spaces.
The event celebrated the broader story of Italian fashion—from traditional craftsmanship and tailoring to cinema, technology, and emerging ideas about the future.
Design houses including Prada, Armani, Versace, Ferragamo, and Gucci contributed to the celebration, while models and performers represented different chapters of Italian fashion history.
In that context, Hadid’s Valentino entrance felt particularly appropriate: it placed traditional couture craftsmanship at the very beginning of a show exploring where fashion has come from—and where it could go next.
The Details That Completed the Look
Hadid’s Valentino gown was styled with accessories that complemented rather than competed with the elaborate silhouette.
The ensemble included:
- Valentino shoes
- Damiani earrings
- Ivory organza detailing
- Oversized puff sleeves
- A dramatic full skirt
- Handcrafted recycled Venetian quilt construction
Together, the elements created the image of a modern Renaissance heroine walking directly into the heart of Milan.
Why the Look Stands Out
What makes the moment memorable is the connection between fashion and craftsmanship.
In an era increasingly shaped by digital design, artificial intelligence, and rapid production, haute couture offers a very different proposition: extraordinary amounts of time, human labor, and technical skill invested into a single garment.
Hadid’s Valentino gown embodies that contrast.
It isn’t designed to disappear into everyday fashion. It is designed to create a moment—and on the Vogue World runway in Milan, it did exactly that.
The Beginning of a Fashion Story
Gigi Hadid’s Valentino entrance was more than an opening look. It established the visual language for Vogue World: Milano: history meeting modernity, craftsmanship meeting spectacle, and Italian fashion heritage meeting the future.
Against the architecture of Milan’s Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, the Valentino gown transformed the runway into something closer to a living fashion painting.
And with that first step, Vogue World: Milano began.
Final Thoughts
Gigi Hadid’s Renaissance-inspired Valentino Haute Couture look is a reminder of why couture remains such a powerful part of fashion culture.
Every element—from the recycled Venetian quilts to the hours of handwork—tells a story about craftsmanship, patience, and imagination.
For Vogue World: Milano, there could hardly have been a more theatrical way to open the show.
Source: Vogue’s original coverage of Gigi Hadid’s Vogue World: Milano appearance.
