Today’s club kids fascinate Giambattista Valli. To be clear: This is not nostalgia for his teenage years, when he was a stylish, wild club kid himself. “I just love these kids’ creativity, how they put together the most incredible looks, how curious, individual, and focused they are, how instinctive in their way of mixing cultural references in such a natural, fabulous way,” he said. The Limelight, Susanne Bartsch, and the RuPaul’s Drag Race superstar Aquaria were on his mood board when prepping this Giamba Pre-Fall collection. A picture of Aquaria wearing a tank top, bandana, and not-so-subtle pitch-black swallowtail eye makeup, was the direct inspiration behind the collection’s strong first look: a kaleidoscope-logoed, batwing-sleeved black-and-white silk crepe blouse worn with drawstring ruched cargos tucked into sky-high ’80s platform boots.
Giamba’s posse of sophisticated nymphs, usually in ethereal layers of flimsy floral chiffon, seemed here to have taken a slightly naughtier U-turn. “It’s more androgynous, less Lolita,” Valli said. There was definitely more dynamism in the short T-shirt dresses worn under voluminous leopard-printed eco-furs. Similarly, a sporty energy infused the macramé bombers embroidered with glittery lips and stars. A python-printed bright blue biker jacket paired with a lacy next-to-nothing miniskirt was a touch flamboyant.
The romantic flair so dear to Valli was expressed here with more quirk than usual. His dresses were as feminine as ever, cut mostly short and fluid; yet they were infused with a spirited, almost mischievous vibe: Even florals and leaf patterns seemed more electric, as if ready to misbehave.
