As the curtain went up in the pitch-black theater, glowing red words ran like an English Lit ticker tape across a black digital screen — “eccentricity, gothic, occultism, Madame Butterfly, existentialism” — in a continuous, random and unceasing stream. Then a woman in a Harlequin ball gown, with a skirt so big it seemed more like a tent with a torso on top, materialized out of the dark. She made her way from stage left, walking slowly to the center where she turned to face the audience, then exited stage right. This exact choreography would repeat itself 48 times throughout the show as an operatic voice sang a mournful cathedral song.

So went “Vertigineux,” or “Dizzy,” Alessandro Michele’s first couture show for Valentino, the brand he joined last year after parting ways with Gucci. And it wasn’t just his Valentino couture debut, it was his first couture, period.

There was excitement in the air. Despite the current seismic shifts in fashion, it’s not often that the couture, the most elite and expensive sector, gets a shot of new blood. Especially from a designer who has a history of changing how people dress.

Giorgio Armani had celebrated the 20th anniversary of his Armani Privé the day before the Valentino show, and viewing the signature parade of 93 star-dusted suits and slinky, chinoiserie-inspired gowns was a reminder that, back in 2005 when he dared breach the barriers of the couture, he was viewed as an arriviste (now he’s the establishment, with a hôtel particulier of his own to show for it). Chanel’s new designer, Matthieu Blazy, will start later this year; for now, the studio team offered a smartly light-handed take on the classics: mini bouclé suits and swishy 1920s tea dresses in Jordan almond shades.