Valentino wowed once again during Paris Fashion Week with its ready to wear collection for Spring/Summer 2020.
We’re in the full swing of Paris Fashion Week now, and the biggest names in high fashion are taking to the runway left, right and centre. Yet in all the chaos, Valentino’s latest collection still managed to make considerable noise among the crowd.
For the upcoming season, Creative Director Pierpaolo Piccioli focused on high volume and intriguing shape – “their purity, but also their extravagance”.
The idea brings his passion for couture to the world of ready to wear: it brings the attention from the dress, per se, to the personality that gives life to it, from the object to the individual.
And for his SS20 runway show, Piccioli was inspired by the art technique of Grisaille. The method involved using monochrome and shades of grey to create elaborate images. Omitting colour allows for a greater focus and attention on shape and size.
The opening looks transformed everyday essentials into stand out pieces thanks to this approach – a basic white shirt became a peplum design with bell sleeves and a matching pleated skirt, for example.
While inspired by this idea, colour did appear on the runway after this statement opening, such as vivid oranges and yellows – but each spoke for themselves and were uncomplicated by layered or clashing shades.
Patterns were introduced into the mix next as a part of Valentino’s story – bold fauvist prints charged with a narrative urgency, only to blend once again into total white.
See more from Paris Fashion Week for Spring/Summer 2020 here.
