Valentino introduces its Cruise 2026 campaign, Nocturne, featuring Dakota Johnson, Tate McRae, Marisa Berenson, Dev Hynes, Anne Imhof and Devon Teuscher, directed by Alessandro Michele and built around the moment before night fully arrives. Michele uses the space to show the point in the day when energy drops, conversations end, and people move into their own thoughts.
The campaign introduces the Cruise 2026 collection inside these separate rooms, presenting clothes in a quieter state than runway or editorial settings allow. The collection introduces sheer sequinned dresses, tweed blazers, printed jackets, mini silhouettes, and feather-trimmed satin pieces, shown in a setting that reflects the slower pace of the campaign. Accessories appear across the season as well, including the Panthea Shoulder Bag and the Drip Rose sandals.
Dakota Johnson, Tate McRae, Marisa Berenson, Dev Hynes, Anne Imhof, and Devon Teuscher appear inside separate rooms within the hotel setting, each presented as an individual presence rather than part of a shared scene. The campaign treats these rooms as isolated spaces that exist side by side, reflecting Alessandro Michele’s idea of “proximity without contact,” where lives run parallel rather than intersecting.
The concept follows Michele’s view of the hotel as a metaphor for the present condition: a place where people exist near each other without speaking, and where private time unfolds behind thin walls. He describes it as “a place of proximity without contact, where parallel solitudes breathe within the same time and thoughts intertwine through thin walls.” The campaign presents this idea without staging interaction, allowing each person to inhabit their own version of the hour before sleep.
The visuals are shaped through the work of director Renell Medrano, photographer Marili Andre, and cinematographer Jack Exton, with Christopher Simmonds as art director. Jonathan Kaye styles the collection, while Victoria Salomoni designs the set. Makeup artist Yadim Carranza, hairstylist Esther Langham, nail artist Lauren Michelle Pires, and choreographer Joe Grey Adams complete the creative team.
Nocturne presents Cruise 2026 through quiet observation instead of performance, showing the collection in a slower register that reflects the moment it captures.
