Daniel del Valle calls himself an artist rather than a designer. Thevxlley—his central project, and the one everything else grows out of—is not a fashion label so much as a container broad enough to hold sculpture, performance, clothing, or whatever a given idea turns out to require. Almost entirely self-taught, del Valle has shown his work across Europe and built the whole practice around the botanical: plants, flowers, and the uneasy arrangement between what people do to the natural world and how stubbornly it carries on regardless. An emerging fashion designer and one of nine finalists for the 2026 LVMH Prize, to be decided in Paris in September, he continues to prioritize emotional connection over prescribed meaning.
The Narcissist, del Valle’s first solo project and the result of three years’ work, was presented during London Fashion Week in February. Porcelain vases were rebuilt as bodices; cropped knits were bound with branches or opened into bouquets; a ceramic T-shirt was assembled as a mosaic of tulips in bloom, becoming a wearable sculpture; a hand-painted dress carried ornate orbs that pushed it into three dimensions. Where flowers were not built into the garments themselves, they were strapped to the heels, shedding petals as the models walked.
hube: Nature appears throughout your work with both immense force and remarkable delicacy—as a source of life, but also as something fragile, transient, and constantly evolving. What is your relationship with nature today, and what continues to move or fascinate you most deeply about it?
Daniel del Valle: Nature, for me, is a form of meditation. It’s where I reconnect with something timeless, a place where everything feels quieter, slower, and more grounded. Whenever I’m surrounded by nature, I feel a sense of peace that’s difficult to find anywhere else.
What fascinates me most is the way plants exist. Their way of living is so different from humans and animals that it sometimes almost feels alien. The way they adapt, transform, and respond to their environment without questioning is incredibly inspiring to me. I’m also deeply fascinated by the relationship between humans and plants. It’s a connection that has become a real obsession, one that I keep returning to through my work in many different ways.
I could go on forever answering this question.
h: You sometimes describe Thevxlley as a garden rather than a brand. What can a garden “offer” that a brand never could?
DdV: It’s not limited to fashion. Garments are only one part of it. In my garden I can grow furniture, objects, films, books, installations… whatever feels fascinating to me at that moment.
Calling it a garden also removes the pressure of fitting into one category. It gives me the freedom to let ideas grow organically, instead of forcing them into a business model.
