For Valentino’s first standalone menswear show since January 2020, Pierpaolo Piccioli sent out as invitations special editions of Hanya Yanagihara’s A Little Life, in the brand’s signature shade of hot pink. It’s a tough read, riddled with abuse, death and violence, but it was the story’s four leading male characters; their vulnerability and resilience, that fed his latest collection. Through his softened tailoring, flower-laden school boy shorts and played-down shirts and ties, Piccioli set out on re-examining the meaning of masculinity and the clothes that shape it.
For the show, entitled The Narratives, he took over the courtyard of Milan’s La Statale, a public university, where students watched from above as rising star D4vd serenaded the show. Going forward, the school will have Valentino student scholarships thanks to a donation from the maison.
Quotes from Yanagihara’s best seller danced across relaxed jeans and easy-going suiting, paired alongside workwear-inspired shirts draped with a single rose, pyjama sets and romantic co-ords that sprouted with a meadow of florals. As always, Piccioli’s eye for colour was serene, mashing primary shades of green and blue with aquarium gravel turquoise, mint green and slivers of dusty pink. Throughout, fragility became “a point of emphasis”, as noted in the press release, with the designer looking to the Japanese tradition of Kintsugi to piece together his looks.
What does it mean to be a man today? It’s an impossible notion to define. For Valentino, and its evolving men’s wardrobe, tomorrow’s masculinity is built from tenderness and humility. A blissful way to kick off the Milan men’s shows.
Photography courtesy of Valentino.
