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Page 107: Valentino Haute Couture SS19 show finale. Courtesy Valentino Page 108 above: Valentino PAP SS20 collection. Courtesy Valentino
Page 108 below: Valentino PAP SS20 collection. Courtesy Valentino

The Valentino revolution is as dense in chromatic facets

as are the iridescent and prismatic nuances of its clothes.

During Paris fashion week in January 2019, the firm sent

out sixty-five models, forty-five of which were people

of color.

In the 2000s, why did nobody challenge the idea that Haute Cou- But let’s leave the red carpet and return to the catwalk.
ture is a privilege of white women? What is so deeply misleading, Valentino’s prêt-à-porter for spring/summer 2020 was a demo-
even somewhat perverse, about the Western world, that prevents cratic and chromatic extravaganza; a revolution triggered by out-
it from coming to terms in an aesthetically radical way with bursts of fuchsia, acid greens and whites. An aesthetic departure
this sartorial whitewash? Fashion, as it is seen and practiced by from Valentino red, but one that could not be reprised for the hol-
Valentino under the creative direction of Pierpaolo Piccioli—one iday season.
of the hundred most influential people in the world in 2019, ac- Decidedly less “prêt-à-porter,” Joan Collins, the star of Dy-
cording to Time magazine—is a way of facing up to the hypocrisy nasty, famous for her treachery as much as for her maximalist el-
reflected in these questions, which leads us to believe that fashion egance, was chosen by the fashion house as the testimonial for its
is still something tailor-made for a narrow social and aesthetic Christmas 2019 capsule collection. Fresh off the prize as Womens-
circle of women. wear Designer of the year at the WWD Honors 2019, Piccioli de-
The Valentino revolution is as dense in chromatic facets as are signed a splendid white dress edged with giant feathered flounc-
the iridescent and prismatic nuances of its clothes. During Paris es, worn by the actress with (in)discretion at the Met Gala 2019,
fashion week in January 2019, the firm sent out sixty-five models, complete with diamond parure. In the first episode of the Holiday
forty-five of which were people of color. What is the meaning of Campaign we see Collins show up at a family gathering in a red
this 45/65 ratio on a runway? A statistic? A fact? Perhaps, we dare lace dress with satin gloves and the omnipresent diamonds; once
to wager, a little act of political activism residing in the imagina- again a bad girl, as in the iconic Eighties soap, but in form rather
tion, that stateless place par excellence, offering natural asylum for than content—she is in fact bringing piles of festive gifts. Valentino
the universal and very humane value of inclusion. thus delivered the latest lesson, and it would be reductive to call it
In adulthood, as in childhood, Piccioli dreamt of directing just a matter of style; in 2019 Santa is a woman, wealthy or not, and
films; and what is a film if not the unassailable kingdom of the not always with something nice to say (for all genders). The only
imagination? The aesthetic part of all this happened at the latest traditionalist touch, in fact, is the famous red of the Maison.
Cannes Festival with The Staggering Girl, a film that is the result Valentino’s fashion is ethical and poetic at the same time, ec-
of the encounter with Academy Award winner Luca Guadagnino. centric and politically on-target. Not through an aesthetic abase-
Cinema and Haute Couture meet and intertwine in this movie, an ment of feminine charm, but through its deepest enhancement;
intimate story set in Rome and New York pivoting on the relation- Piccioli seems to be telling us that even if that huge feathered hat,
ship between an elderly mother and her daughter, in an affluent or that bucket hat in pastel hues, will last for but a season, women
setting, a luxurious reality. A reality that nevertheless somehow have the right and the freedom to wear it, and to feel beautiful by
belongs to us, just as the clothes of Valentino are somehow ours, doing so. Valentino Couture under the creative direction of Picci-
because dreams are the sole heritage of humankind disconnected oli embraces the statement of philosopher Georg Simmel, the first
from the logic of possession and private property. to assign fashion a relevance that takes it beyond the applied arts,
“Not aesthetics as an end in itself, but emotion. I have always adopting a theoretical aspect: fashion has “the attraction of a si-
loved cinema and I dreamed of becoming a director. When I dis- multaneous beginning and end, the charm of novelty coupled to
covered fashion and its narrative power, I decided to be a designer. that of transitoriness.” Fashion, thanks to Valentino, conserves the
For me, it has been the natural evolution of a dream,” Piccioli com- charisma of a revolution that seems both contingent and necessary,
mented during a press conference at the festival. in its explorations of the folds of current events. And of clothing.

108 Fashion Protagonist Protagonist Fashion 109