VALENTINO Spring/Summer 2019 Ready-to-Wear – Paris Fashion Week

In an age dominated by streetwear and Instagram brands, there are few designers that are still focused on making pretty clothes that can make women faint. Pierpaolo Piccioli, with Valentino’s Spring/Summer 2019 Ready-to-Wear collection at Paris Fashion Week, managed to bridge the gap between couture and casual, bringing out the fun with larger-than-life silhouettes, feathered accessories, and childlike florals. The show opened against a simple backdrop of palm trees and cacti with a suite of all-black ensembles, that were so lax, they almost appear structure-less, the billowy sleeves blending into the dropped waists. The looks then gave way to more playful pieces, to be captured by an abundance of florals, reminiscent of the 70s with feathers accented the most unexpected of places, like hats, sandals, sleeves, and handbags. Valentino strikes the perfect balance of work and play, and has us dreaming of summertime.

«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».