With world economies in freefall, brick and mortar stores shuttered, and only the luckiest of nonessential workers facing the dour realities of working from home, green shoots of innovation have begun sprouting in even the most unconventional of industries. Valentino’s creative director, Peter Piccioli is one of many who have leveraged social distancing measures while in isolation, as he gears up to unveil the men’s and women’s A/W 2020 collections later this year – titled #ValentinoEmpathy. 

“Valentino Empathy is the positive reaction of our community, made of people who share the same values, and believe in beauty as a form of freedom,” Piccioli told British Vogue. “The inclusive and intimate idea that lays behind the campaign reflects a tenderness without which big missions would never be accomplished.”

Piccioli has seemingly reconstructed any last silos at the brand as he pivots from mood boards, buzzy photographers, and curated locations to the unfussy minimalism of an at-home shoot. A starry rolodex of faces will be shot in isolation to promote the fall line: Gwyneth Paltrow, Christy Turlington, Laura Dern and her son Ellery Harper, Rossy de Palma, Adut Akech, Anwar Hadid, Vittoria Ceretti, and Naomi Campbell, amongst others. All collaborators have forgone compensation, donating their time in support of the campaign; Rome’s Lazzaro Spallanzani National Institute for Infectious Diseases will benefit a €1 million endowment that would have otherwise earmarked for advertising. 

The good optics latent to Valentino Empathy arrive on the back of a series of coronavirus relief efforts. Mayhoola, Valentino’s parent company, previously donated €2 million to the Sacco Hospital in Milan, and the Protezione Civile Italiana, €1 million to La Fondation Hôpitaux de Paris-Hôpitaux de France, and €1 million to develop the field hospital constructed at Feria de Madrid in Spain.

“It’s difficult to deliver hope, positivity, and good energy, but we need that light,” Piccioli told Vogue earlier this month. “We have a responsibility as designers – we have a voice, we have to give hope, we have to give lightness, and we have to believe in dreams. I’m always positive: I always feel like there will be light.”