Read me on 160grams: 1 2 3 4 5
So. It has been a while. You will read about Valentino‘s last collection on my 160g post tomorrow (Monday) with proper images and some kind of review, but I wanted to write something here about the new direction Valentino is taking… If you are a loyal reader you will probably know how much I loved or even venerated Valentino, and how much I was shocked when he retired. I also incredibly admired Alessandra Facchinetti and her stunning work that was really worthed to be named ‘Couture’. It seems like yesterday when I bought that newspaper saying that she was fired: I was frankly disgusted back then, and it took me a while to appreciate the work of her successors. But right now I do. And it was even more clear Wednesday, when I had the chance to look at their last collection. I was charmed by the extreme lightness of the materials, by the subtle (termosaldatura) technique of the ruffling, by the smart poetry that lied in each piece of fabric. These clothes and this spirit take place in a very natural way into the ‘couturier’ folder. Clothes that are made to be loved more than for mere experimentation, clothes that tell a story but are more than anything else a pure statement of beauty. Couturier, sarto, tailor: we tend to forget how much the sensitivity of the hand counts. Even with the finest modern techniques, Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli achieved to reinvent that tradition that is Valentino’s trademark.
I will add some better photos soon, but in a way these are the photos that describe my feelings the best: enchanment towards a rather simple red velvet (Red Valentino) dress, beauty of a transparent white garment, strength of some Argento-esque eightie-ish spiked red shoes. Serene statements of beautiful fashion.
p.s.: you can zoom on the Raging Bull collage. These are all things that are on my mind lately, fluorescent and red, boxing and butcher shops, poisonous green… somehow most of these were present in the latest issue of Vogue Italia that looks kind of awesome – 2 shoots by Miles, 2 shoots by Tim, I couldn’t ask for more !
