Pierpaolo Piccioli

The 2010s / Pierpaolo Piccioli’s Couture at Valentino

| Design & Culture by Ed

Believe it or not – I can’t! – but we’re heading towards a new millenium. So, how do you choose the most important collections, designers and labels of the decade? The ones that made an actual impact in the 2010s? Well, it’s not an easy task. It all began in September 2009 with New York’s spring-summer 2010 shows and ended when the autumn-winter 2019 haute couture shows wrapped in Paris. Few thousands of shows, by the way. There will be 19 posts (that’s really the only possible minimum!) reminding about the best – and if not the best, then strongly influencing – moments in fashion.

Pierpaolo Piccioli‘s Valentino and making fashion FASHION again.

Pierpaolo Piccioli’s couture for Valentino is the only couture that really mattered in the last couple of years. No crazy venues that attempt to distract you from noticing how plain the collection is. Just pure, joyous, glorious haute couture that enchants and truly impresses. And makes Celine Dion cry. The spring-summer 2019 collection was a triumph of audacious colour, beauty and glamour. But also, it was a major model casting breakthrough, with completely diverse models that made the garments even more exquisite. The designer embraced black beauty, having Adut Akech open the show (in a brilliant, pink ensemble) and Naomi Campbell close (in a gown made out of translucent organza in the shade of Chocolate Dahlia). There was Liya Kebede, there was Lineisy Montero, there was Ugbad Abdi. Runway icons, veterans, and newcomers. The entire scene looked like a fairy-tale… that really took place. This couture collection showed to what extent colour is crucial for Pierpaolo, especially in terms of his haute fashion. “You don’t invent beauty, but you can invent new harmonies for colour”, the maestro said backstage. Just read the following: a coral coat worn with a chocolate crepe blouse and emerald gabardine pants. Lilac serape topped a pair of orange pants. Turquoise lace and tangerine silk faille. Green sequins. Pale mauve. Matisse blue. All that worked with voluminous ball gowns that took hundreds of hours to create at Valentino atelier in Rome. A season later, with a 5-star line-up of models including the great Lauren Hutton, each singular silhouette that came down the Valentino runway added more and more meaning to a show that celebrated the opulence of diversity through a “gathering of individuals“, as colours, shapes, headpieces, flowers and fringes came together in one stunning presentation of fashion design and its finest. Piccioli again made you feel ecstatic with his vision of couture. From the yellow tiered wool yarn fringing and Hmong/Miao tribe-inspired headpieces to cartoonish leopard prints and Matisse cut-outs in acid colours, this show was spectacular. The cut, the plumage details, those subtle Yves Saint Laurent references, the out-of-this-world craftsmanship, the magnificience… this collection is so deep in its beauty that it truly touches your soul. Unquestionably, Piccioli is a couturier of Garavani’s heights. And it’s a blessing for today’s fashion to experience his genius. On to 2020s!

Spring-summer 2019 haute couture

Autumn-winter 2019 haute couture

Spring-summer 2019 haute couture

Spring-summer 2018 haute couture

Autumn-winter 2018 haute couture.

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All collages by Edward Kanarecki.

Classics. Valentino SS20

| Design & Culture by Ed

There was something very calming and classical about Pierpaolo Piccioli‘s spring-summer 2020 offering for Valentino. The designer dedicated the whole opening section of the show to white, sending out 12 looks that rotated around the idea of a shirt. “I wanted to work on something universal, to get back to the essence of shape and volume,” he said. “So I worked on the idea of the white shirt, but treating it with a couture sensibility.” The dresses didn’t only look airy and feminine, but very comfortable. And one can’t help but notice the nod to  aesthetics of Renaissance. The collection as well had splashes of noen (the green, chiffon number is exquisite) for balance. Any prints? Jungle prints via the naive vision of 19th-century artist Henri Rousseau – perfect for summer. The line-up ended with couture-ish, tulle gowns. This wasn’t a ground-breaking collection from Piccioli, but a pleasing one. His consistence keeps on attracting customers, who know they will look flattering in a Valentino dress. While everyone’s re-inventing themselves to be relevant, it seems that Pierpaolo doesn’t have that problem.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.

Fantasy. Valentino Couture AW19

| Design & Culture by Ed

Summing up: it’s a fantasy.

With a 5-star line-up of models including the great Lauren Hutton, each singular silhouette that came down the Valentino runway added more and more meaning to a show that celebrated the opulence of diversity through a “gathering of individuals“, as colours, shapes, headpieces, flowers and fringes came together in one stunning presentation of fashion design and its finest. Long sentence, I know, but Pierpaolo Piccioli makes you feel ecstatic with his haute couture. From the yellow tiered wool yarn fringing and Hmong/Miao tribe-inspired headpieces to cartoonish leopard prints and Matisse cut-outs in acid colours, this show was spectacular. The cut, the plumage details, those subtle Yves Saint Laurent references, the out-of-this-world craftsmanship (note that pink dress made out of squares!) the joy, the magnificience… this collection is so deep in its beauty that it truly touches your soul. Bravo, bravo, bravo.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.

Love’s in the air. Valentino AW19

| Design & Culture by Ed

Pierpaolo Piccioli makes people get emotional (and Celine Dion shed tears of joy) over his couture. Does his ready-to-wear for Valentino spark the same reactions? Pretty much yes. His autumn-winter 2019 collection was an ode to love. A theme that might be so easily clichéd in fashion got beautifully poetic on Piccioli’s runway. “I feel that people are looking for emotion and dreams—but not distant dreams,” he said today before the show. “I want to create a community for Valentino. I mean something different from ‘lifestyle,’ which is about owing objects. It’s about people who share values.” Valentino’s community has many faces, and this season Pierpaolo made them even more vocal. First, the choice of models who walk the Valentino runway as of late utterly cement the normalisation of inclusive casting. You’ve got Adut Akech open the show in a voluminous coat, and Maria Carla Boscono wear a gorgeous black gown. Then, we’ve got artistic individuals that leave their mark on Piccioli’s fashion. Jun Takahashi of Undercover started collaborating with Valentino’s menswear last season, and his contribution goes on here as well. This time the designers morphed together a print of a 19th-century neoclassical sculpture of kissing lovers with an image of roses. It appeared on pretty much everything, and wasn’t necessarily a subtle detail. And then there are the poets. Poetry in fashion always seemed to be a good idea just in case of Ann Demeulemeester and her long-time friend, Patti Smith. In case of Valentino, the concept wasn’t overly intellectual or profound, but digestible for the eye. Picciolli commissioned the Scottish poet and artist Robert Montgomery and the three young writers – Greta Bellamacina, Mustafa The Poet and Yrsa Daley-Ward – to contribute to a slim volume, Valentino on Love, which was left on seats for the audience. An illuminated billboard with lines by Montgomery stood at the end of the runway, reading, “The people you love become ghosts inside of you and like this you keep them alive.” The words carried on to live in Piccioli’s designs and the lines were printed (or embroidered) inside coats, tulle dresses, inside of bags and boots. In terms of fashion, this was a line-up of incredible matchings. An orange jacket with feathers was worn over a hoodie – refined, yet fresh. There were as many couture-ish silhouettes (like the yellow cape-coat or the finale dresses) as sublime daywear (think soft tailoring, flared mid-lenght skirts and classical little black dresses). Love’s in the air, in every single aspect.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.