Pierpaolo Piccioli proffered precious punk princes, persuasively… at Valentino. I was trying to aliterate the whole thing, but it’s not humanly possible. But precious punk prince is an apt summary of Valentino’s clothing this season, where the house’s precious, couture-quality craft combined with Jamie Reid’s graphic treatments of ransom-style cut-out letters. The designs were used across sweaters and tailoring, sometimes beaded on top or inlaid into cashmere coating, a touch of rebellion next to Valentino’s signature luxe. There is always plenty to wear at Valentino – you can generally imagine Pierpaolo himself wearing it. For his first solo outing, the focus was on the masculine – baseball caps toped every look, from casual daywear to a bowled tuxedo look – while the signature rocketed trainers bottomed. Maybe it’s about Piccioli restating what the Valentino man – who is now, solely, his man – really stands for? The striking thing about Valentino, after all, is that it’s dressing legions of men, entire generations in fact – guys from 18 to 80 wear Valentino menswear and look great, no doubt a great contribution to turnover thats bulging past the billion euro mark. And what billionaire wouldn’t want to dress like this?
Photographs courtesy of Valentino
