An interactive, theatrical exhibition will take visitors behind the closed doors of Maison Valentino when it arrives in Doha in October. Eight spaces will, for the first time, reveal the creative process of creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli by displaying his personal design notebooks. Other rooms will show haute couture pieces, ready-to-wear designs, photographs and art installations that will explore Maison Valentino’s history and pay homage to its inspirational founder Valentino Garavani.

The exhibition will also recognise Valentino’s relationship to Rome where the brand has had its HQ at the historic Palazzo Mignanelli since 1967. Piccioli says, “Roma has a big influence on my work.”

Running from October 28 to April 1, Forever Valentino is the Italian brand’s largest ever exhibition and its first in the Middle East. It will take over M7, the design hub in Msheireb Downtown Doha, and is a joint presentation with Qatar Museums as part of its year-long Qatar Creates project.

Upon entering the sprawling exhibition via a replica of the courtyard of Valentino’s Roman HQ, visitors are greeted by Igor Mitoraj’s sculpture Sorgente del Centurione. Proceeding through the pristine all-white rooms of the atelier, they arrive at Capriccio Romano, a black and white area displaying clothes that are a nod to the cinema. Here, moving images are projected onto white dresses that dangle from the ceiling.

Next up is the Divas room, adorned with photographs of celebrities wearing Valentino dresses from past and present, as well as the gowns themselves. The Parade room provides a blast of pink that was a major theme of Valentino’s FW22 collection, while the adjacent Wunderkammer space presents beautiful objects and accessories.

Echoing a storage room, the Archive room is the penultimate exhibition space where visitors are able to open drawers and discover hidden treasures. Finally, the show concludes with Roman Conversations, a colourful array of around 60 dresses set in a reproduction of Rome’s Piazza di Spagna, home of the city’s iconic Spanish Steps, where Piccioli famously presented his FW22 collection in July this year.

Forever Valentino coincides with the unveiling of Piccioli’s winter haute couture collection as well as Garavani’s 90th birthday. Curating the exhibition is journalist, author and collector, Alexander Fury, and Massimiliano Gioni, the Edlis Neeson Artistic Director at the New Museum, New York, and artistic director of the 55th Venice Biennale.