Valentino is pulling out all the stops for the first collection designed by Alessandro Michele. After releasing a dedicated campaign – the first devised by the Italian luxury house’s new creative director – the group has revamped its distribution strategy to give maximum visibility to its Spring 2025 cruise collection, notably through various partnerships, including a key collaboration with Dover Street Market (DSM).

Valentino has recently partnered with Bal Harbour Shops, a high-end shopping mall in Miami, Florida, for a week-long presentation of its ‘Avant Les Débuts’ pre-collection staged at the Access Suite private lounge. The Italian luxury label has now announced a major new partnership with DSM, the mythical concept store by Rei Kawakubo and Adrian Joffe.

Starting on Thursday October 31, Valentino, in which Mayhoola, the investment fund of Qatar’s ruling family, holds a majority stake, with a 30% stake owned by Kering, will open a series of pop-up stores at various DSM addresses around the world, in London, Tokyo, New York, Singapore, Los Angeles and Paris. Notably, on November 13, Valentino will inaugurate an installation in the Elephant Space at DSM in Ginza, Tokyo, and at DSM Beijing.

“After these pop-ups, the partnership will evolve toward the opening of permanent Maison Valentino spaces within Dover Street Market. These will launch in London on November 19, to be followed by Beijing in January 2025, and Ginza and New York the following month,” said Valentino in a press release.

“It’s a partnership that underscores our maison’s commitment to showcasing our Roman couture heritage in the contemporary landscape,” said Valentino CEO Jacopo Venturini. He underlined that the aim is to present the collection in “original and exciting pop-up homes all around the world, embracing new clients in unique spaces.”

“This collaboration with Dover Street Market is part of the company’s strategy of working exclusively with selected key partners who share our common values,” a source at Valentino told FashionNetwork.com. The ‘Avant Les Débuts’ collection is also currently available at Valentino’s 236 directly-managed stores worldwide.

“The unexpected meetings at the crossroads of various hearts and minds are the exciting things we look forward to. I am delighted to start this new adventure with Alessandro and the wonderful people at Valentino,” said Joffe, who runs DSM, whose first store opened in September 2004 in the Mayfair district of London.

DSM commercialises several emerging labels alongside better-known ones, and a large selection of Japanese labels.