![]() ![]() So you have to open up those codes, giving them new life and the freedom to speak through more personal, individual interpretations.”Īnd what is more individual, personal, and human than a portrait? For pre-fall Piccioli lensed the look book himself, with a cast of Italian beauties not all of whom are models, but rather friends and young women “with something to say,” he explained. “Not because I condemn red carpet glamour, but because today, there’s the need of a new warmth, of more humanity. What does that mean, exactly? “It means giving a more human dimension to Valentino’s lexicon, less obviously glamorous,” Piccioli said. ![]() “To make Valentino’s codes and values pertinent for today, I want to keep a firm hold on its identity while shifting its signifiers, giving them a new attribution.” “Today, more than ever, aesthetics are determined by identity,” he said during a Zoom conversation we had about his new pre-fall collection. ![]() It added the final touch to a rather impactful experience.Pierpaolo Piccioli is busy keeping Valentino’s re-signification going, the line of thought about identity, humanity, and radicalism around which he’s been tailoring his practice since last year. This time, he entrusted the singer, songwriter, and producer Labrinth to perform stirring renditions of some of his hits. Piccioli is quite the master when it comes to turning fashion shows into emotionally charged moments of visual seduction. The flowers had a story of their own: Originated in eight different countries, they were grown in a nursery in Milan, where they’ll be returned after the show. Highlighting a somehow reductionist approach, the only print was a vibrantly-hued floral revival of an archival dress: a glamorous yellow number famously worn by Anjelica Huston and lensed by Giampaolo Barbieri in 1972.Īrrangements of wildflowers and plants filled the vast industrial set in a powerful installation by Japanese plant artist Satoshi Kawamoto Piccioli envisioned it as a disruptive element of beauty inspired by guerrilla gardening’s practice of growing delicate plants in gray concrete spaces-another romantic act of urban resistance. Progressing from linear, almost minimal looks, the collection flowed into the ethereal evening options that have become synonymous with Valentino style here the sophisticated shapes of caftans and cape dresses were designed with fluid, efficient precision. Both the women’s and men’s lines shared shapes, volumes, and fabrics the same wardrobe staples-blouses, short-suits, and blazers-were often proposed in identical versions for both genders. Lace, macramé, crochet, and embroideries were among the textural couture accents reworked here with a crafty, more palpable “human” touch. What Piccioli is doing in his “re-signification” of Valentino is simply re-writing its codes within the context of a changing world-innovating and modernizing without losing the house’s essence keeping the emotional vibrancy, while being effectively attuned to the beat of today’s intense rhythm. Of course, the language of couture is a fundamental signifier for Valentino. But, as always with Piccioli, his approach was as instinctual as it was sophisticated he’ll go down as one of fashion’s romantic visionaries, able to orchestrate moments of true creative enjoyment, both emotional and visually elevated. The wording could sound slightly highfalutin and self-congratulatory. “I focused on working more on Valentino’s identity than on its aesthetics,” he reflected. “In this moment, sticking to an old mindset for me just wasn’t an option,” he said at the post-show press conference.Ĭhoosing a venue at odds with Valentino’s typical optics, so deep-rooted in couture, signaled the bold stance Piccioli was taking in the re-definition of the house’s stylistic codes-a process he called re-signification. He decided to decamp from the ornate Parisian fabulousness of the Salomon de Rothschild salons for the powerful industrial rawness of Fonderie Macchi, a metallurgical foundry active in Milan from 1936. In a declaration of support for the Italian fashion system and making the most out of the difficult circumstances the pandemic has forced upon us, he opted for an act of bravery-and bravura. Milan Fashion Week closed with a bang today, with Pierpaolo Piccioli presenting his Valentino collection for the first time here in Milan. ![]()
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