Alessandro Michele titled his fall Valentino collection “Interferenze,” and he described himself as being such an interference, designing “for a brand that does not bear your name, and this tension leads to what you are seeing.”

That may well be, but the beautiful fall collection he designed was perhaps one of the most integrated and harmonized with Valentino Garavani’s own sensitivity and taste, yet adjusted to modern times. After all, “I love this house and there is no reason at all to tear down what was done before.” Surely, Garavani’s longtime partner Giancarlo Giammetti, sitting next to Gwyneth Paltrow at the show Thursday night in Rome, must have recognized some of the late couturier’s signifiers.

For example, Garavani’s constant attention to the back of any garment was revisited by Michele through details such as the elaborate knots and pleats on the back of the men’s and women’s jackets or a thin gold chain running down a backless red gown, which closed the show and paid tribute to the color identified with the couturier. Michele admitted it is a color he also finds very attractive, “although it is one that is complex to work with,” and he reminisced about the red androgynous pussy-bow blouse that marked his first show at Gucci.

He played with asymmetry on several looks and art curator Pamela Golbin, who has curated the first two exhibitions of the Fondazione Valentino Garavani e Giancarlo Giammetti in Rome, recalled one specific asymmetric dress with a sash running across the hips designed by Garavani that must have been an inspiration for Michele. Cue, for example, a black and pink velvet one-shouldered floor-length dress.

The color palette was delectable, and often presented in contrasting hues such as a mustard, black and lavender gown or an emerald green blouse over a pleated burgundy skirt, with a high orange fabric band cinching the waist. The latter was one of the elements that harked back to the ‘80s, a decade that floated throughout the collection, certainly a successful period for the brand, but also one that Michele recalled fondly for “the freedom women had, they were more independent,” he mused.

He thought of the “hedonistic grandeur” of Garavani, “when human beings were at the center of the world,” and he said he felt the stately and majestic Palazzo Barberini, exemplifying the Baroque style by three of the most important architects of the 17th century — Carlo Maderno, Gian Lorenzo Bernini and Francesco Borromini — was the perfect stage for the fashion show, exceptionally held in Rome and not in Paris this season.

“I really wanted to show in Rome but not in a demonstrative way, but to return to the origins of the brand, recovering its grandeur. Palazzo Barberini alternates this grandeur with intimacy, since this was also a private home. The interiors are Rococo but also show the early signs of Neoclassicism,” he said, pointing again to the interferences and cross references.

Further highlighting the latter, the floors of the gilded and frescoed salons of the building were covered in synthetic grass and tiny leaves. “Nature breaks into the beauty of the palace in a metaphysical way, you know it’s not real, you perceive this, and it’s part of how we live today, in an alternative reality on social media. It’s an image reminiscent of British artist David Hockney,” he added.

Aware Hermès, Louis Vuitton and Miu Miu also had green elements in their fall shows in Paris, he admitted he once would have been upset by the coincidence, but not this time. “I think it’s interesting,” he mused. “It continues the conversation on beauty, there is a need for nature today beyond the pre-packaged images, and I adore nature.”

Michele admitted there was some “obsession over tiny details that seem pointless, from another era, over the pleating, the draping,” but the result was worth the effort. His love of decorations and embellishments was still there, but it was more restrained now and he acknowledged an effort toward subtraction.

It felt natural and, as he said, he felt “more at home” at Valentino, his three decades in the industry and his settling comfortably at the brand clearly playing off.

Michele is a thoughtful designer, and there is always a deep narrative behind his collections. Brand ambassador Colman Domingo, who attended the show with the likes of Britt Lower and Lily Allen, said wearing Valentino makes him “feel part of the fantasy, in some way part of the dream, romantic masculine and sexy.”