Purple Fashion

[October 4 2018]

Valentino S/S 2019 show at Hotel National des Invalides, Paris

It was in the warmth of a late fall afternoon—in a sun parlor with succulent plants, on a soft white carpet—that the spring 2019 collection of Valentino was presented. Valentino is one of the oldest and most traditional Italian maisons, based in the historic city of Rome. Today, between the guests present and the models parading along, this captivating spirit of high fashion was well celebrated.

To set the tone, the designer Pierpaolo Piccioli opened the march with Kristen McMenamy, one of the most unconventional models from the nineties era. But this move and, simply, her pride to exhibit her beautiful cascade of natural white hair—falling on a thick, generous black silk robe—felt here simply right and pleasant. There was something comforting in the air. The collection later exposed a wide range of beautiful dresses­—studied silhouettes in ample volumes and precious materials. The round of colors—dark chocolate, spicy orange, dusty pink, and Valentino red—produced a worship of good taste.

After all, with Valentino we’re in the culture of couture, where good behavior and opulence meet, and Piccioli is a designer who understands its language very well—who translates it to the present day with agreeable intensity and serene calm.

Text Dorothée Perret, photo courtesy of Valentino

See our coverage of Paris Women’s S/S 2019

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