Pierpaolo Piccioli’s Valentino seems to be one of the few havens unaffected by the anxiety and the urge to protest, which is a constant theme running through fashion now. Perhaps that’s because this label, based in its idyllic Roman headquarters, has already been rebuilt on escapism. If you’re in need of a fantasy dress, Valentino, with its exquisite workmanship and aura of art-history-tinted romance, will be very near top of mind. So this season, there was no panic reaction going on in Rome, just a carrying on as usual.
Piccioli said he’d merged Victoriana and the Memphis Group as starting points. On paper, they have nothing in common, but that barely mattered to the results. The Victoriana provided plenty in the line of the long, high-waisted, high-necked house signature dresses; the Memphis angle led to ice cream colors and a patchworked fur coat with jazzy patterns of hands and numerals.
A fashion eye will jump to the newness, though. That came in the swingy, waistless, knee-length dresses, with volumes swirling as the girls walked. It was shown in several iterations, from a black-and-white squiggle print to plain satin. The ultimate version was smothered in raspberry and pink sequins, hands down the Valentino dress of the season.
