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SuzyPFW: Valentino Rises Like The Moon






“Lots of fashion, super Valentino, ruffles, symbols – but to see them from a different perspective and make extraordinary ordinary things,” said Pierpaolo Piccioli of a collection that was wildly cheered as the models climbed the iron steps of a historic Paris lycée.


 



As Valentino Garavani himself went to congratulate Pierpaolo, with flanks of clients and designer Alber Elbaz all giving air kisses, the fashion crowd celebrated the now-perfect match between how Valentino collections used to be and how they are now.








“I started this collection with the idea of ‘Orlando Furioso’, the 16th-century epic poem by Ludovico Ariosto, where Orlando loses his mind for love and his best friend flies to the moon to recover his sanity,” Pierpaolo explained. “I really like the idea of the moon as the place where we find what is lost in the heart. So the moon is a second opportunity. And I have always been impressed by the Apollo 8 mission – the first three people who flew beyond gravity.”




These glimpses inside an artist’s mind feel like a privilege. But the designer has managed to turn his deepest thoughts into the lightest clothes. Even the opening outfits with plastic coverings on jackets or tops had not just a sweetness, but a sense that the designer had melded the shapes of sportswear with high-fashion materials. The shimmering, slithering effects in dawn pink worked equally well on sporty or dressier pieces.

The clothes became increasingly delicate as the show – and its time of day – moved on. Pieces fitted together to make patterns with the way the cutting techniques were interspersed with pieces of lace or chiffon, embedded with tiny flowers.


The artistic Pierpaolo, who wears his historic erudition lightly, spoke also of being influenced by Federico Fellini’s 1990 film, The Voice of the Moon, which referenced its romance and effect on the soul. Maybe that was where a burning red appeared as though the relatively sporty clothes had been caught in the sunset. Even simple evening dresses with one diagonal frill had a simplicity in the flow of fabric.





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