“Camp, Clown, Frou-Frou Organza”: Tish Weinstock on Valentino Haute Couture

WEDNESDAY 4:45 PM CET JANUARY 29, 2025 PARIS

After attending Alessandro Michele’s jaw-dropping Valentino Haute Couture debut yesterday afternoon, the British writer, editor, and professional goth Tish Weinstock got on the phone with Interview’s own Taylore Scarabelli to unpack the beauty behind Michele’s post-apocalyptic parade of Victorian mourning dresses and Harlequin-inspired gowns.

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TAYLORE SCARABELLI: Hello. 

TISH WEINSTOCK: Hi. Hold on—can you see me?

SCARABELLI: Yes, I can. Hi.

WEINSTOCK: How are you? I’m just on my way back from the show. I’m in the car. So the Wi-Fi is, well, non-existent, but the show was amazing.

SCARABELLI: Oh my god, I saw you on the TV doing your little pose.

WEINSTOCK: Oh yeah, the up skirt. Lol.

SCARABELLI: Right. Not the angle that we want, but you looked great.

WEINSTOCK: The traffic was so bad so I was late. They literally just rushed me in and sat me somewhere random so all of my footage is of the back of the model’s heads, but what great heads they were. And the dresses—I’m still a little bit speechless.

SCARABELLI: The set was so intense, with the spotlights and the music and the text. I was like, “What’s going to happen?”

WEINSTOCK: I know—I’m getting out of the car. Sorry. Chaotic. So, yeah, the set was fab. So, you walk in and—I can’t speak French, but it said “Vertigineux,” which I guess means vertigo? 

SCARABELLI: I looked it up while I was watching the livestream and Google said something about a famous racehorse? [Laughs] 

WEINSTOCK: [Laughs] You never know. It is very Alessandro to do something obscure and abstract. But what was amazing was, because the setting was so futuristic, the historical references felt really modern. It was an interesting juxtaposition. I loved the Harlequin moments and the Pierrot and Pulcinella moments—all those comedic characters. They’re obviously very humorous figures, but there was also a darkness, which I think sums up what’s happening today, especially where you guys are. The clowns have taken over. 

SCARABELLI: They have.

WEINSTOCK: And there were the amazing Victorian moments, a lot of me in there. A lot of mourning dresses, which I was like, “Yeah, I love that.” And then the finale honestly made me jump. I wasn’t expecting it. The thundering opera, the flashing lights. I developed a nervous twitch while I was watching, like a malfunctioning robot.

SCARABELLI: It definitely felt like it was foreshadowing something darker, but there was some optimism in there as well.

WEINSTOCK: Yeah, I think it was the perfect balance with the Harlequin and Pulcinella, those are obviously key tropes of humor, drama, and farce, but they were countered by all sorts of darkness. It was very much like the show we needed to see. Obviously there was immense beauty as well, and that’s where the optimism was. Watching you were like, “Oh my god. I want to be part of this world. Also, the casting was great. Seeing those older queens walk I was like, “Stunning.”

SCARABELLI: Yes. And all the bare face Pamela Anderson-style glam.

WEINSTOCK: Yeah. They didn’t really need a strong beauty look. There was enough going on. 

SCARABELLI: Totally. So who do you think is going to wear this on the red carpet during awards season? Or who would you want to see in it?

WEINSTOCK: I’d love to see Hunter Schafer in it, but she’s no doing any movies right now, so maybe we won’t see that.

SCARABELLI: Yeah. I don’t think she’ll be around. 

WEINSTOCK: But we like her for that. I’m sure Dara’s already put it on the mood board. 

SCARABELLI: Absolutely. And can you tell me about your outfit today?

WEINSTOCK: So, it’s sort of like Catholic choir boy up top and then a little party down below. I’m wearing a burnt orange tight, which got a little wet when I stepped in a puddle, but that was fine. It kept me quite grounded, actually. My soggy feet. [Laughs] And then this little bag, which I don’t actually have anything in, but it goes with the look. 

SCARABELLI: You’re giving Rainbow Goth today. 

WEINSTOCK: I know. It’s a lot of color, but it’s got that romance and history, which—okay, Susie Cave was in the audience looking stunning, my idol. It’s all about the context. If you have these sort of camp clown, frou-frou organza bits worn on someone that maybe isn’t that, that’s when you get that tension, and I think that’s when it works. 

SCARABELLI: Yes.

WEINSTOCK: It was fab though. Everyone I talked to after the show couldn’t really speak. I spoke to Nick Cave, and he was like, “I can’t really sum it up. I don’t have any words.” And then proceeded to use a lot of words.

SCARABELLI: [Laughs] I love that. Who else was there?

WEINSTOCK: I saw Tali Lennox, I saw Ariana, the artist, Ariana Papademetropoulos, whose name I can never say.

SCARABELLI: Papademetropoulos. Yes.

WEINSTOCK: Devon Lee Carlson, she was looking an absolute treat. Got a nice little video of her, which we’ll send over. Charlotte Lawrence.

SCARABELLI: Yes. Gorgeous.

WEINSTOCK: And sorry, the clients. They’re the stars.

SCARABELLI: We love the VICs. Tell me more.

WEINSTOCK: They were dripping in lace, ruffles, organza, beads, and then obviously il faccia was giving. The amount of work in that room was just unbelievable. I was delighted by the frozen-in-time looks. It wasn’t piling on loads of accessories. It was more like one strong silhouette. I think everything he’s done has been leading up to this moment.

SCARABELLI: One hundred percent. And I love when there’s not 10,000 looks. That’s when the vision really gets distilled. It was interesting, the runway itself kind of brought me back to Demna’s pandemic-era shows. It had that ominous, apocalyptic feeling. And I’m wondering if we are going to be seeing more of that again with everything that’s happening in the world. 

WEINSTOCK: Yeah, and I think that energy really helped contextualize the show. if he’d done it in Versailles or another very theatrical, ornate space, it wouldn’t have had that tension. And it wouldn’t have related to what’s happening in the world. And the music, again, was like this malfunctioning robot.

SCARABELLI: For the readers—it was like the glitchy electronic music over opera singing, basically. Or what do you call that music? Not opera but—

WEINSTOCK: Requiem, maybe?

SCARABELLI: Yeah.

WEINSTOCK: If it is a requiem, obviously, then that’s all about death. The show space, and how they did it, was so actually integral to the storytelling. I was like, “Okay, this is a comment on what’s happening now,” like all good shows are. 

SCARABELLI: Yes. Well, thank you so much for chatting with me. You’re the perfect person to review this show.

WEINSTOCK: Thank you. I’m going to be in New York next week. If you’re around, can we have a drink?

SCARABELLI: Absolutely!