Pierpaolo Piccioli belongs to the small but growing band of designers who’ve realized that the ivory tower, old-school rigmaroles of luxury fashion shows are becoming a thing of the past. “I think that we have to step forward, not step back, and that’s why I didn’t want to go back to Paris and show in a palace, or any of the places we showed before,” he said.
So, to mark the return of Valentino’s ready-to-wear to Paris, he took over the old marketplace at the Carreau du Temple, and a row of neighbouring cafés and restaurants opposite to put on a joyful all-gendered show reunion symbolically blurring the distinctions between insiders and outsiders.
“It has been such such a tough moment. That’s why I decided to get Valentino into a new dimension: life,” he said, amidst a backstage scene packed with young people who were getting ready to walk along the street for everyone to see, before filing back into the market space where the regular invited audience were seated at cafe tables.
Paris Fashion Week | Valentino Spring Ready-to-Wear
Piccioli, much loved in the industry for his warmth and down-to-earth lack of snobbery, felt the rupture of the past two years meant it has finally come time to put words and fine intentions into action. “I’ve been talking for a long time about making a shift, embracing a new generation, a new world,” he said. “And also to be leading a change. You know, Mr. Valentino took part in engaging with youth in the ’60s. That was a revolutionary time. So I think this is my way of doing that today: keeping the codes and the couture values, and talking about a beauty which is about humanity, and a shared wardrobe.”
With refreshing candor, he said he didn’t really want to speak about clothes, inspirations and narratives. “Fashion is about clothes—but it’s also about people wearing clothes. If I had to add words to talk about the storytelling, maybe my mission was not accomplished. Because I want to talk more about our community of people, sharing values—rather than a group of individuals that share the surfaces of a lifestyle. It’s more about celebrating diversity in a joyous way. “
He pitched the production towards embracing Gen Z-ers with a proposition of a beautiful, casualized-couture wardrobe designed to float between genders: lightweight taffeta tailoring in vivid colors, plethoras of dresses from minuscule and cutaway to sweeping, embroidered caftans. The mini-maxi proportion-play—like billowy volumes teamed with micro-shorts—provided a translated house glamor that captured everything the TikTok generation might relate to.
ABOUT
The Maison Valentino was founded in 1960 by Valentino Garavani and Giancarlo Giammetti. Valentino is a protagonist of international fashion, and from 2008 until 2016, has gone through an impactful creative evolution.
The Maison Valentino plays a major role in the luxury division through tradition and innovation, a necessary combination for a creative industry that generates the sense of beauty.
Valentino’s fashion is displayed through the Haute Couture and Prêt-à-Porter lines for women and for men and through the Valentino Garavani accessories lines that include shoes, bags, small leather goods, eyewear, scarves, ties and fragrances. An aesthetic universe, present in over 90 countries through 160 Valentino directly-operated boutiques and over 1300 points of sale.
Stefano Sassi is the Chief Executive Officer of Valentino S.p.A., and has joined Valentino in 2006, in conjunction with the celebration of the 45th anniversary of the brand, immediately providing a new strategic vision. The CEO has guided the fashion house during years of great development, through the passage of the baton from Valentino Garavani to the Creative Directors Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli, that during the 8 years of Creative co-Direction have contributed into making Valentino one of the most successful fashion companies of the fashion system.
Paris, 7th July 2016: Valentino nominates Pierpaolo Piccioli sole Creative Director of the Maison.
An aesthetic, contemporary vision and the excellence in the execution, are the guidelines of the industrial process and of the artisanal and handmade workmanship that are entirely produced in the historic Atelier of Piazza Mignanelli in Rome, where the specialized ‘Bottega Couture’ couture school, has recently opened.
Image Source:© IMAXtree.com
Article Source: Vogue : By Sarah Mower
https://www.vogue.com/fashion-shows/spring-2022-ready-to-wear/valentino
