Giambattista Valli

I've never been interested in Giambattista Valli. His work has always felt too fussy to me and not very I don't know. His work has never caught my attention. His work is in line with that of say Valentino, Jason Wu or Oscar De La Renta. That is to say, someone who designs for the ladies who lunch set. But my lack of knowledge of his work is why I don't appreciate it but with this being his first haute couture collection I was curious to see what he'd come up with. I loved it. Not all of it but a lot of it. It was what you'd expect from a couture show in a traditional sense. Lots of bead work, feathers, ruffles, pearls, lace. All that jazz. My favourite look was the white shirt with tweed (I think) pencil skirt. It was designed to look as though the shirt was peeking out from the hem of the skirt. It was just so fucking smart and sharp and sexy. It was perfect. And the capes were cool. At first I thought they were a bit too much but then I'm like, no, the Dior caftans were too much. Joan Smalls in a black dress with white cape is not too much. If I could wear that look it would be at the airport walking to the gate, boarding a plane.

Joan Smalls is the baddest bitch on the runway

Valentino Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2010 Review

Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli replaced Alessandra Facchinetti after she was unceremoniouslydumped because Valentino felt she wasn’t referencing his archive enough. He said “There is an existing archive with thousands of dresses where they (Maria and Pier) can draw and take inspiration from to create a Valentino product that is relevant today. It is a shame that their predecessor didn't feel this need."

So it was a shame she didn’t see a need to tow the ruffled chiffon line. And now after a couple of seasons under their belts Maria and Pier have strayed into conceptual design territory, much like Faccchinetti only less successfully.

After their paint-by-Valentino-numbers spring RTW show it took my eyes a moment to adjust to what I was seeing. The models looked like they’d hitched a ride into Paris on the back of a Balenciaga truck via Burberry Drive, Ungaro Way and Rodarte Ave.

It wasn’t all bad but a lot of it was. Look 25 was pure tack. A red stripper dress with tiers of mini ruffles snaking around it that no doubt took 500 hours to make. It doesn't take a stretch of the imagination to see the seamstresses crying while making these outfits.

Look 32’s conception went something like this “omg we should totes do a column dress with multi-coloured tiers of chiffon but let’s do some of the tiers in clashing neon. Squeal!”

Then there was look 33, a hippie cape that looked like Matthew Williamson vomited all over it after a bad acid trip. Seriously you guys, it was hideous.

Pier said of the collection "We think that to keep a future in couture, it's necessary to bring a new customer who wants something cooler.” Though the collection was a mess they should be commended for being brave enough to step out from Valentino’s over-bearing shadow and overstuffed archive but they’ll need to try harder to get that new, young customer they’re after.

VALENTINO SPRING 2010

Head designers Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli appear to be getting the hang of things at Valentino. This is their first spring RTW collection for the much loved house and things are looking good. They’re still maintaining the Valentino spirit with roses, bows, ruffles and delicate handwork while infusing it with a youthful eye.
A strapless lemon chiffon dress opened the show and there were other similar dresses in grey. Chanel Iman wore a ruffled bomber jacket with a matching miniskirt which looked like good old fashioned borgeouis fun. The most striking piece was an embroidered chiffon top cut like a t-shirt and worn with chiffon trousers. It was the most representative piece of what the designers are achieving, bridging the gap between old and new.