Many wondered whether Valentino would be the same without her. We can now answer definitively, on the evidence of this latest couture outing alone which many critics hailed as the show of the week in Paris: Piccioli’s Valentino is truly extraordinary.
Modest but never solemn, elegant but never staid, Piccioli’s skill is in imbuing his clothes with an extreme lightness that lifts them from their context to semaphore modern beauty. He takes a particular pride in creating a heart-stoppingly beautiful gown. File those exquisite high-necked, long-sleeved, embroidered, embellished dresses and the incredible closing cape-gown hybrids in various stages of young, ripe and rotten raspberry under “ultimate couture fantasy”.
The surprise in this collection? The daywear. Piccioli reports that his couture clients shop everywhere – ergo, they need T-shirt capes, sheer chiffon shirts, slim-cut polonecks and yes, black trousers, to go with their heavily-laboured-upon, Renaissance-inspired couture pieces. As for that last dollop of reality: consider your leveller the optic white boots that accompanied every look. Startling and superb.
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