ANDREA JANKE Finest Accessories: Op Art Effects by Giambattista Valli Fall/Winter 2014/15

The silky, ivory-color shag-pile carpet of the Giambattista Valli runway set the tone for a gentle collection that the designer explained was about “a lot of textures, a lot of softness.”

Backstage before the show he said that he wanted “a tender attitude celebrating the introspection of the Valli woman. There are designers that like a men’s wardrobe for women,” he continued, “but I like the woman’s softness.”

Discover my impressions of the new Giambattista Valli F/W '14/15 showroom Passage de La Madeleine, Paris, and the fashion show video at the end of this post!

LoL, Andrea

Those seductive and innovative texture treatments included fur given a gleaming, lacquer surface, and graphic butterfly wing or animalier jacquards with the design in a top layer of shaggy mohair that had been combed to create an undefined, shimmering effect. Giant rose prints turned out, on closer inspection, to be woven textiles, whilst a trellis of bugle-bead embroideries, for instance, was used with a shimmering fabric woven from tinsel fronds, and wool lace in a floral motif was given further dimension with appliquéd flowers on top. It was all deliciously tactile, evoking, as Valli promised, “the desire to hug!”

Valli kept his silhouettes simple predominantly a shapely hourglass, with the season’s strong, rounded shoulder (and a brace of drop-waist flapper frocks) and his hemlines hovering way above the knee, just the way his customer likes them. Every look was shown with the same black suede ankle boot, and occasionally Luigi Scialanga’s thick platinum-color chain-link necklaces garlanded a neck, adding an edge to the prettiness of the clothes.

The controlled palette segued from graphic black-and-white for those smudged Op Art effects to a romantic blush rose, a deeper rich pink, and finally a sugar plum.

It was all feminine but forceful like the Valli girl.

During my stay for Paris Fashion Week, I passed through the new
Giambattista Valli showroom Passage de La Madeleine, Paris.

Enjoy my impressions! LoL, Andrea