VALENTINO CRUISE 2026 CAMPAIGN STARS DAKOTA JOHNSON

Summary:

• Valentino Cruise 2026 campaign features Dakota Johnson, recently named global brand ambassador, alongside Tate McRae, Marisa Berenson, Dev Hynes, Anne Imhof, and Devon Teuscher
• Directed by Renell Medrano and photographed by Marili Andre, the campaign takes place in a hotel setting exploring themes of solitude and transition
• The visual narrative accompanies Chopin's Nocturne in E Flat, portraying private moments before sleep as shared human experience

Valentino's Cruise 2026 campaign brings together an ensemble cast anchored by Dakota Johnson, who recently accepted her role as global brand ambassador for the fashion house. Tate McRae, Marisa Berenson, Dev Hynes, Anne Imhof, and Devon Teuscher join Johnson in visuals directed by Renell Medrano and photographed by Marili Andre.

The campaign, titled Notturno, unfolds within the transient spaces of a hotel. Alessandro Michele, creative director at Valentino, describes the concept as exploring the threshold between waking and sleeping. This in-between state forms the foundation for the visual story. The hotel serves as the primary location, chosen for its dual nature as both intimate and anonymous.

Each room within the hotel becomes a separate world. The cast members appear in individual spaces, their lives touching briefly while participating in a common ritual: preparing for sleep. These parallel moments of solitude occur simultaneously, creating a collective experience from private gestures.

The photographs and accompanying video feature Chopin's Nocturne in E Flat as the soundtrack. The music underscores the campaign's exploration of evening's quiet moments. The composition mirrors the visual themes of transition and rest.

Michele's vision centers on the moment before night fully arrives. Consciousness begins to release its hold on the day. Boundaries between states blur. Light shifts. Words lose their weight. This suspended threshold becomes the campaign's home.

The hotel setting functions as more than backdrop. It represents contemporary life's contradictions. People exist near each other without making contact. Individual solitudes breathe in the same timeframe. Thoughts cross through thin walls. Proximity does not equal connection.

Within this framework, the cast members embody singular existences. Their separate narratives unfold across different rooms and moments. Yet they share the act of surrendering to rest, of releasing the day's tension. This shared gesture transforms private experience into something communal.

The campaign presents intimacy as both individual and collective. A person alone in a hotel room performs a universal act. Sleep becomes refuge. Rest offers temporary escape from external demands. These personal moments, repeated across spaces, build toward a larger pattern.

Medrano's direction emphasizes this simultaneity. The visual language moves between isolated figures and their connection through shared experience. Andre's photography supports this balance, framing each subject within their own space while suggesting the presence of others nearby.

The choice of cast reflects diverse creative backgrounds. Johnson brings her acting perspective. McRae adds her musical sensibility. Berenson offers decades of fashion and film experience. Hynes contributes his composer's viewpoint. Imhof adds her artist's vision. Teuscher brings her dancer's understanding of physicality. Together they represent different approaches to creative expression.

The Cruise 2026 collection appears throughout these nocturnal scenes. Garments move with the subjects as they prepare for rest. Clothing becomes part of the transition ritual, shedding day's formality for evening's ease.

This campaign marks another chapter in Michele's tenure at Valentino. His approach continues to blend conceptual depth with accessible imagery. The hotel setting provides familiar territory while allowing room for interpretation. Everyone knows the experience of a hotel room. Few have considered its metaphorical weight.

The Notturno concept offers Valentino a distinct voice within fashion campaigns. Rather than emphasizing energy or aspiration, it explores stillness and surrender. The message speaks to rest's value, to the moments when people drop their public faces.