“An America everyone dreams of: hope in mind and on the body.” These poignant words close Valentino’s pre-fall 2017 collection statement. A powerful affidavit, and fitting for a brand that has always used the fashion industry as a platform to inspire hope, as well as enact change.
Valentino’s pre-fall 2017 show was gorgeously staged at New York’s newly refurbished Beekman Hotel, and signals Pierpaolo Piccioli’s first solo pre-collection as creative director, having worked alongside Italian fashion designer and Dior’s recently appointed first female artistic director Maria Grazia Chiuri for 17 years.
The collection itself is as optimistic as the setting was romantic. On the emotive soundtrack, American singer-songwriter Nina Simone belted, “It’s a new dawn, it’s a new day, it’s a new life” for good measure, just in case anyone in the audience doubted Piccioli’s aesthetic and buoyant message.
An unmistakable triumph, delicate and minimally styled models strode out onto the catwalk in over-the-knee flat leather boots and floral print dresses, many of which were studded with ebony bugle beads. Silk prints were coupled with lace or Peter Pan satin collars, with one shimmery snakeskin shirtdress exquisitely hand-painted with candy-coloured blooms.
Somewhat unusually, patchwork mink coats and jackets lined with thick fur were worn with slip-on pumps for a particuarly modern, urban, youthful look. Clashing colours and deftly unkempt locks, while playful, tactfully harked back to the concept of a roaming nomad who has immigrated with nothing but the clothes on her back.
Elsewear, eveningwear remained wonderfully decadent, as well as refined, with ruby-red sequins and floor-skimming hems galore.
