The Marciano Art Foundation in Los Angeles looks a bit like a tomb. The building, which was erected in 1961 to house a Scottish Rite Masonic Temple, is walled in marble, creating a cool echo and a sense of melodrama.
It’s a fitting venue for the late-April launch of Valentino’s Specula Mundi. The book, out May 11th and available at select Valentino boutiques worldwide, features images of ghostly women — saintly, obscured, and moving through flashes of gold and velvet couture — that echo the building’s haunting grandeur.
Its epigraph, a quote from Valentino creative director Alessandro Michele, reads: “Fashion is a religion.” What follows are hundreds of striking images by Mark Borthwick that celebrate Michele’s visionary Spring/Summer 2026 collection. Some are motion-blurred, with the models’ faces deliberately out of focus. Others are upside-down.
Los Angeles, Michele says, is the ideal place for his book launch, despite its lack of literary reputation. The celebrated creative has had a long-standing love affair with the city over the course of his 30 years in fashion, including during his tenure at Gucci. “I love old Hollywood — the boulevards, the lights. I always feel a strange nostalgia. It’s a very poetic city,” he says. “It’s a place where I can lose myself. You feel free because it’s an incredible place full of artists and interesting people.”
As for the book’s imagery, Michele compares the role of the photographer — in this case Borthwick — to that of a spiritual leader. “The way that Mark tries to capture the essence of a gown, of an object, is like a shaman,” he says. “The way I work on a dress is the same. I try to capture the beauty, the magic of the dress.”
He and Valentino invited a slew of stars to celebrate the book’s release. Hannah Einbinder, Mindy Kaling, Tate McRae, and Sombr turned out to pay their respects, many of them wearing the brand. “He’s the sweetest guy in the world. He’s an angel,” says I Love L.A. actor Jordan Firstman, who met Michele for the first time at the event. Firstman is clad in a Valentino smoking jacket and feels, he says, “Italian and bisexual.”
In recent months, the literary canon has served as inspiration for the fashion world, with classical references appearing across runways. The legendary Italian fashion house’s event is a book party with a glamorous twist — less reading and stuffy posturing, more gin and tonics served by male models in black tie. The creative director floats across the room, his long hair parted into two braids. At one point, Michele reaches for a brown miniature poodle on the floor, to everyone’s delight.
Speaking of literary tradition, Dree Hemingway — an actress, model, and the author’s great-granddaughter — was easy to spot in a rose-pink dress. She’s impressed with Specula Mundi. “It’s not a normal fashion book,” Hemingway says. “It’s a marriage of sculptural art and fashion. It’s very romantic and playful.”
In another corner, Teyana Taylor looks elegant in a black Valentino gown, accompanied by stylist Jason Bolden. A server offers her a prosciutto-and-mozzarella square. “The drinks are good. The dress is nice,” Taylor says. “I came to support,” she adds, gesturing to her outfit.
Award-winning actress Patricia Arquette remarks on Michele’s singular vision as well as Valentino’s iconoclastic legacy. “I’ve been a fan of Alessandro for a long time. I admire his development as an artist,” she says. “There’s always been a boldness in the Valentino woman — the flavor of a ’70s power woman,” she adds, noting that she identifies with that vision of femininity. “It’s beautiful, elegant, and has edge.”
Maude Apatow, also in pink, praises Michele’s knack for world-building. She excitedly chats with Sombr, who is wearing leopard-print pants. “Alessandro is my favorite designer. He creates the most beautiful, creative, and magical world,” Apatow says. “I’m always honored to wear any of his clothes.”
As the night winds down, the crowd begins to disperse with Specula Mundi in hand. The mood is light, and the book is surprisingly heavy.
