At the end of the couture collection Pierpaolo Piccioli showed for Valentino on the grounds of the Summer Palace in Beijing, all the models congregated in a garden pavilion by a small lake. Under weeping willows, in gowns resplendent with embroidery, lace and feathers, they made for a vignette that the creative director said he had in his mind from the very beginning.
“Creating a world where two different cultures can encounter, and can live together, can create a special moment,” he said before the show. The palace was a summer escape for members of the royal family in the Qing dynasty and Piccioli selected it as a symbol of the grandness of China and its imperial past. It was a backdrop that for him echoed a familiar feeling and creative touchpoints close to him. “Piero della Francesa, Fra Angelico…” he said. “All the feeling of the grandness of the Renaissance.”
Dresses of sprawling volume enveloped the runway in intense emerald, jades, spring green and lively shades of pink and red. The shapes and motifs of both richly-coloured Chinese woodwork, and Renaissance paintings in scrolling shapes and repeated geometry appeared on trailing skirts and across elongated robe-like coats. They were a visual signal of togetherness, but Piccioli was not bent on drawing similarities. “The golds of the Summer Palace are far from Italian golds, but they work together.”
Instead, he spoke about cultivating differences, and presenting a very Italian version of couture to Chinese couture customers and celebrities who made up part of the 600-strong guest list. And so, all the skills of the atelier workers were on show, 45 of whom were necessarily flown over to make final adjustments before the show and who could be found the day prior in a workroom of white tables, taking up hems of white tulle and guipure and sewing rhinestone trims onto floral appliqués. On show notes, Piccioli assigned their names to each piece they worked on.
The finished products included a ribbon-festooned backless column gown, bows that seemed to hover weightlessly over a train, gargantuan sleeves bursting from shoulder to waist on a rich gold and ivory jacquard dress, and a finale look with embellishment springing outward to create an impossible three-dimensional effect — like little metallic strafes of light bouncing off the fabric itself.
There was also the idea of a dream, so central to Piccioli’s work, with couture an encouragement for us to do so. The designer named the collection Daydream, and formulated a hue, dubbed ‘daydream pink’ that was an enticing amalgam of Valentino reds and pinks, and Chinese red, for good luck. The levity of feathered capes, the crystal mesh masks covering models faces, and glitter of Pat McGrath who surreally covered every inch of skin on some models’ faces in silver, conspired to create the otherworldly feel Piccioli is such a deft hand at conjuring.
As they congregated by the designer outside, under the bows of an Imperial pagoda, the image was cast: two cultures, existing in exquisite beauty, side by side. “You have to be respectful of different cultures,” he said. “But not for fashion, I think it is important for life.”
Below, scroll down to see every look from the Valentino haute couture Beijing 2019 show.
Valentino haute couture Beijing 2019
Valentino haute couture Beijing 2019
Valentino haute couture Beijing 2019
Valentino haute couture Beijing 2019
Valentino haute couture Beijing 2019
Valentino haute couture Beijing 2019
Valentino haute couture Beijing 2019
Valentino haute couture Beijing 2019
Valentino haute couture Beijing 2019
Valentino haute couture Beijing 2019
Valentino haute couture Beijing 2019
Valentino haute couture Beijing 2019
Valentino haute couture Beijing 2019
Valentino haute couture Beijing 2019
Valentino haute couture Beijing 2019
Valentino haute couture Beijing 2019
Valentino haute couture Beijing 2019
Valentino haute couture Beijing 2019
Valentino haute couture Beijing 2019
Valentino haute couture Beijing 2019
Valentino haute couture Beijing 2019
Valentino haute couture Beijing 2019
Valentino haute couture Beijing 2019
Valentino haute couture Beijing 2019
Valentino haute couture Beijing 2019
Valentino haute couture Beijing 2019
Valentino haute couture Beijing 2019
Valentino haute couture Beijing 2019
Valentino haute couture Beijing 2019
Valentino haute couture Beijing 2019
Valentino haute couture Beijing 2019
Valentino haute couture Beijing 2019
Valentino haute couture Beijing 2019
Valentino haute couture Beijing 2019
Valentino haute couture Beijing 2019
Valentino haute couture Beijing 2019
Valentino haute couture Beijing 2019
Valentino haute couture Beijing 2019
Valentino haute couture Beijing 2019
Valentino haute couture Beijing 2019
Valentino haute couture Beijing 2019
Valentino haute couture Beijing 2019
Valentino haute couture Beijing 2019Click Here: liverpool mens jersey