FASHION

VALENTINO'S HAUTE COUTURE REVOLUTION

or Pierpalo Piccioli's way

By Alex Vong 

Haute Couture is an invitation to a dazzling world where all fashion dreams come true, but these dreams come at a price. You need artisans of the highest skill, a great deal of time and buckets of money: these dreams are the dreams of a monied aristocracy. The exclusivity of haute couture allows fashion houses to indulge in luxurious fantasies, but makes survival in a cutthroat industry nearly impossible. With the growth of minimalist and ready-to-wear lines, many fashion houses have shifted to a safer direction to meet the commercial demand for accessible luxury in a way that ensures their survival. It is easy to recognize that famous fashion houses, such as Alexander McQueen, Dior, and Jean-Paul Gaultier, have toned down their haute couture designs in recent years. Valentino, a fashion house well-known for its extravagant designs, is no exception.

Since Valentino welcomed the Italian creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli, the world's largest fashion house has been rapidly transforming into a more youthful, contemporary, artistic, and vibrant phase. It is easy to see a dramatic shift in shape, color, and detail in Piccioli's designs through his utilization of minimalism and monochrome colors as he aims to attract younger customers. Haute Couture is normally fantasy on runways, appearing at big events with A-list celebrities, or even displayed in museums (think of McQueen’s posthumous show); but with Piccioli, we can absolutely see that his couture could appear on the streets and be worn by "ordinary" people.

Piccioli’s rise at Valentino is an aesthetic strategy to refresh the brand and also a business strategy to steer the brand toward the ready-to-wear market. Opening its first store in Milan in 1965, the brand was successful not only because of the talent of its designers, but also because of the business strategy of its co-founder and partner, Giancarlo Giammetti. From the beginning the house was always interested in ready-to-wear, couture, fragrances, accessories, and eyewear, but the clothes themselves remained somewhat lofty and out of reach from the normal person. After his last haute couture show in January 2007, Valentino and his partner retired and Piccioli, along with Maria Grazia Chiuri, became the Art Directors. In 2016, with the exit of Chiuri, Piccioli was nominated sole Creative Director of the house, steering the brand to a whole new era full of innovations and evolutions, yet still embracing its high-end heritage.

Surrounded by his genius

The latest collection is Piccioli's homage to the city of Venice that perfectly encapsulates all of these new concerns. Like the city of Venice, haute couture is an art form and an idea. Finding a balance between the two-dimensional worlds of painting, and the three-dimensional world of fashion has fueled Piccioli's artistic and business vision. Over the past decade, Valentino has adapted a more youthful transformation, focusing on younger, more modern, and edgy customers and has also embraced their political and cultural concerns. Along with that, Piccioli has worked with several contemporary artists, including Joel A. Allen, Luca Coser, and Malte Zenses, to celebrate individual and collaborative pieces for the collection. With striking colors and designs, Piccioli has achieved that goal of finding young customers over the past few seasons. This haute couture collection also follows the same direction: he brings art and fashion together to create unifying yet exploratory looks. He is not afraid to experiment with extravagant accessories and vibrant colors.

And like the younger customer base they’re seeking out, Valentino's FW21 collection focuses on environmental sustainability. Here again, Venice is a great model and metaphor of what he is after. It is impossible not to think of the importance of sustainability considering Venice’s vulnerability to rising sea levels. As a result, Valentino is adopting inclusive, sustainable and responsible actions including streaming kits made from sustainably managed ingredients and plastic-free packaging.

A new vision

Saffron and breathtaking volume are the most striking elements of the piece pictured above. Piccioli has crafted a 21st century Belle dream with his epic gown, a fierce and compelling architectural silhouette that remains incredibly gorgeous and feminine. Piciolli's gown departs completely from all traditional ball gown standards with symmetrical arched shoulders, a design inspired by the famous domed architecture of Venice. It exclaims tremendous power and drama, while the V-shape cut of the bust explores the sexiness of the wearer. The rough and pre-wrinkled texture of the fabric offers a completely new concept for Haute Couture. The crafted imperfection gives a sense of poetry and contemporary art. Anyone who wears this saffron masterpiece would dominate like a queen, commanding all the attention. Anyone who didn’t turn their eyes toward this look would definitely need to have their vision checked.

We could say that Piccioli brings his grand gowns down to us, the people, and in the piece below takes the practical mini-dress up to haute couture standards. With the same meticulous attention to detail as those gigantic gowns, the couture mini would be comfortable at any party, while still embracing ridiculously opulent elements. It is a couture that is more accessible and flexible.

High and low merge

Here’s couture that women can wear everyday. What is remarkable is the elaborate feathering that creates an extremely impressive highlight to the overall outfit. A dress that might look ordinary by itself becomes high fashion with this stunning accessory. It makes people think in entire outfits rather than in single pieces. Piccioli places the richer tone of the coral jacket over the softer, pastel pink of the dress. The contrast is subtle, but significant. The meticulously detailed and symmetrical folds on the sides along with the extremely delicate cut of the skirt against the softness of the feather jacket are both wearable and a stunning artistic statement.

Dreams of relaxation

In the outfit above, Piccioli invokes the daydreams of his clients by sophisticatedly inserting a flock of feathers to a minimal ready-to-wear outfit. This combination offers a sharp and luminous contrast, while playing with expressive colors. Its ordinariness brings an extraordinary beauty and perfection to haute couture. This outfit is the new definition of a modern flapper dress. The once gorgeous and detailed flapper is now completely sleek and minimal through the magical hands of Piccioli. The top of the outfit seems like a yellow tank top followed by a long, soft, feathery pink skirt that lends an interesting twist to the informality of the top. Again, Piccioli is meeting the demands of ready-to-wear and haute couture by placing them in direct conversation with each other.

This will catch some attention

Movement is an indispensable element of being alive and Piccioli perfectly captures that in the piece above. An exquisitely detailed, beaded mini jumpsuit and a jellyfish-inspired hat with tentacles sway and flow with every step. The meticulous embroidery that defines the house of Valentino is reinterpreted to bring this ready-to-wear jumpsuit to the next level, with turquoise gloves that lend dramatic contrast to the largely white outfit. We can definitely see this look appearing on 5th Avenue or at weekend cocktail parties. Once again, this Haute Couture informed piece demonstrates Piccioli’s masterful execution, his playful artistic vision, and his unique vision that the fashion of our imagination belongs on the street.

In addition to the magnificent and sumptuous women’s dresses, Piccioli has been experimenting with men’s couture, one of the few major designers to do so. In the outfit below, he takes the Japanese Kimono and gives it a street-wise look. The shoulder padding of the blazer and the baggy pants create a harmonious and masculine look. What's more remarkable is the patching details on the outfit gives it a natural, organic feel. Again, here we see all Piccioli’s obsessions: coutour, wearability, outrageousness, and a harmonious balance with the natural world.

This guy is kind of organic

And this isn't

Magenta, a color that we often associate with sweet dreamy girls, is not a menswear staple and yet Piccioli makes it work. The look above is lovely, cozy, and fashionable all at once. An oversized wool coat with long sleeves and big pockets works in perfect contrast with the turtleneck sweater. What man wouldn’t dream of wearing this on a winter day. Here is a designer as attuned to the season as he is to our bodies. For him, and we should follow, everything is a synthesis of all our needs. If global warming is about a world out of balance; here is a fashionable and daring response from an unlikely source.

©Alex Vong and the CCA Arts Review