The fashion show begins with a black mini dress paired with sheer ton stockings without spoiling the surprise. The fashion model allows herself to be watched as she descends the stairwell and traverses the ivory carpeted rooms reflected in the gilded mirrors at 8 Place Vendôme.
Variations on the concept of haute couture
We discussed black and its reintroduction, but we cannot conclude the discussion of the color palette. Pierpaolo Piccioli has always exhibited uncommon attention to color (even if he comes out with black trousers and a sweatshirt at the end of the show, thus becoming his uniform for greeting the audience). His singular aptitude has enabled him to revitalize Valentino by utilizing a broad range of colors: purple, blue, green, and pink. Orange is powerful and fierce, and there is no nostalgia for red, while the performance also features the show's brightest tones, electric and neon.
To the variants on the color, the theme is added those of non-grandiose clothing: Pierpaolo Piccioli presents extremely short dress, voluminous cloaks, sophisticated overcoats, flowing slacks, light blouses, and simple shirts on the runway.
The stairwell, a fresh vantage point
Numerous times, the staircase has been the focal point of haute couture fashion shows: their architectural structure gives a unique sense of suspense, between the tension of descending and the anticipation of viewing the entire image. However, the Valentino haute couture fashion show did not take place exclusively in the rooms of the French palace: the cameras mounted on the hall's ceiling provide a new perspective on fashion, particularly during the spectacular final phase, during which the models retrace their steps and position themselves according to the color shades.
Anatomy of the female body to convey its beauty
According to Anatomy of Couture, Pierpaolo Piccioli intended to communicate beauty by denying himself of paradigms and employing art history's most advanced formula. Indeed, fashion views haute couture as a means of expressing art as a fundamental concept of beauty: the subject of study is the feminine body in all its diversity. Backstage, you will find Man Ray's photographs, Botticelli's Birth of Venus, and some portraits of Kate Moss as interpreted by her boyfriend, Mario Sorrenti. In this approach, the stylist celebrates affluence, individualism, and diversity by portraying various forms, ages, and races. Valentino felt the models needed not to match the same body type (therefore suitable from Lady Gaga to Frances McDormand).
The sartorial anatomy emphasizes all of this with prominent cutouts, enormous volumes, ruffles, and bows, not to mention the vertiginous cuts and short hems that proudly reveal transparent stockings paired with stiletto heel mules. Sensuality is intense and conscious, accompanied by a certain step.