SPRING 2019
READY-TO-WEAR
by
Sarah
Mower
There’s no way of speaking about this without
sounding silly and girlish, but sorry, it has to be
said: Valentino tonight was just utterly,
lusciously all-round gorgeous. “I was thinking
of paradises, about artists’ colonies of the
past,” said designer Pierpaolo Piccioli. “There
were reasons why artistic people went off to
places like that—so they could live their
identities,” he said. “Today, everyone is talking
about escapism. But I don’t believe in that—l
think everyone should just live their identities
in the city, or wherever they are.”
Fantasy meets reality at
PFW with Valentino
Kristen McMenamy—her white-haired,
elegant, individualist self—grandly led the
parade in a voluminous black cotton off-the-
shoulder dress. There followed lots of looks in
black—each one effectively a different
character sketch: an amazing slim black cotton
lace dress with an asymmetric cape thrown
over one shoulder; a tuxedo with a fine tulle
ruffle spilling from the front; an incredible
peasant dress with a bubble skirt and balloon
sleeves. Then Piccioli went wild with color:
Valentino red dresses, with fine fan-pleating
going on; a jersey dress with a caped top, half
which somehow ran around the back and
joined its skirt; something delicious in fondant
pink taffeta with balloon sleeves.
The variety—all this inclusive fabulousness of
shape—was breathtaking. Then followed the
print: wildly joyful patterns in colors inspired by
Matisse and Gauguin—printed silk velvet
pajamas, a purple and green curlicued hand-
painted print. Somewhere near the end came
a sequined and feathered emerald and
lavender column that shimmered like a dream.
In a season when there’s been so much talk
about the appreciation of couture dressmaking
and craft skills, Piccioli just took it to the
ultimate. It was as accomplished, as complexly
cut—and as simple as that.
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