VALENTINO by Pier Paolo Piccioli & Maria Grazia Chiuri
It's becoming hard to keep count of how many shows have been opening this season with designers' black thoughts. Yes, black is back, but its possibilities are being recast in many differently textured ways, and hardly any of it looks goth, sharply minimalist, aggressively dominatrix-like, or omniously apocalyptic. And even when it involves leather as it does (quelle surprise!) at VALENTINO, there's the potential for something chic and young to come out of it. It's another step in the modernization of the label Pier Paolo Piccioli and Maria Grazia Chiuri are finessing; that fine balance between carrying a heritage and running with an instinct for where fashion is heading now.
Within this post, enjoy my pictures of VALENTINO Spring/Summer 2012 collection at Via Monte Napoleone, which I took 10 days ago in Milan & the VALENTINO Fall/Winter 2012/13 Fashion Show at the end of this post! LoL, Andrea
MONTENAPOLEONE 20 - Opening Party
Still, black leather at VALENTINO? The cape, culottes, and white shirt, an all-leather jumpsuit, and a long, narrow black trench coat might have jolted anyone who's mentally consigned VALENTINO as the home of old-world fragile feminity, but you need to look closer to sense what the designers are really up to here. The delicacy is in the super-fine napa leather and in the seams, which are joined together not by any old sewing machine, but by means of silk-macramé handwork. The result? An idea that pushes VALENTINO's new fan base slightly out of her comfort zone, burt in a good way.
The overall concept for fall, according to the designers, was "folk, but in a modern, faceted way." A pitfall would have been an overload of hippie-traveler souvenir references, but they stepped clear of that by trimming carpet-patterned maxi-coats into lean shapes, scattering gypsy rosebuds in a minimal way on a raised-waist pinafore, and by using smocking details merely to emphasize a shoulder in a creamy, long-sleeved dress.
The main point is that the Piccioli and Chiuri now have a true sense of direction. Between them, they've been looking for a more natural, less prescriptive kind of beauty, someone - not neccessarily an ingenue - who doesn't like to trotter into a room on skyscraper heels, coiffed, and done up to the eyeballs. There's still a gentle romance in what the designers do, and most certainly a breathtaking wow factor in the silvery embroideries on filigree lace for evening. But the VALENTINO woman is now one who can walk into a party on her medium-height, block-heeled "tango shoes" and feel perfectly possessed and at ease with herself.
VALENTINO Interior at Via Monte Napoleone
Selections by ANDREA JANKE Finest Accessories
Photo Credit/Source: © VOGUE
Runway-Photography by © Yannis Vlamos/GoRunway
VALENTINO-windows at Via Monte Napoleone:
More VALENTINO To Love ...
Spring/Summer 2012 Couture Collection
2 comments:
Super Klasse Sammlung von Valentino....Ich denke di BlumenKleis sind sehr schön.
Today you can check my NEON YELLOW OUTFIT in:
laviequo.blogspot.com/2012/03/neon-loops.html
And visitme in BDC69:
http://bdc69.blogspot.com/2012/03/blogs-de-filles-53-lida-de-munich.html
XOXO from Munich
La Vie Quotidienne
http://www.laviequo.com
Superb Valentino romanticism. The colorful embroidery, the leather chic style & feminine elegance..I love it. My fave is red cutwork, knee length, pretty dress. Lovely pictures!!!...Cheers, Shagun
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