The Valentino menswear AW’20 took place in Grand Palais in Paris, the creative director of the brand Pierpaolo Piccioli was not afraid to give us bold colours, hint of florals and most dark ready to wear. He said in an interview “I like the idea of something so romantic and moving with the tailoring. It’s a different way of seeing it,”
The ready to wear collection was infused with the haute couture soul of Valentino, so is the brands’ streetwear and sportwear where the Valentinos’ camouflage and rock stud was not missing.
The tailoring for the collection is empowering, flattering, comfortable and effortless styling. They suits are well structured for a modern Gen Z man. “For the young generation it’s not a uniform,” as Piccioli reflected, referring to the way their dads and granddads would have approached it. “The suit is not something ‘proper’ that belongs to the office. Now it’s just another proposition.”
Piccioli infused the suits and the coats with sensitivity and romance and cool colour factor which is where the hint of floral and beautiful bold orange colour stepped in. The silhouette of the collection were softened, the jackets were slit up one side and strap mechanisms for adjustability and free movement was added.
Piccioli said’; “A suit in a rave concert is very unconventional, It’s about the freedom of self-expression that tailoring can be part of.”
Piccioli design signature can be seen from his haute couture designs where he’ll take a garment traditionally loaded with conformist baggage and re-programme it for a new social consciousness. “Feminine touches on very tough shoes,” he said, gesturing at stompy derbies covered in tinsel sequins. “You don’t change the shape, but you change the spirit.”
Some of the garments from the collection also have some fun words for the typically Gen Z who authenticity is important, courtesy of the artist Mélanie Matranga, – words like “you” or “need”. “Good lover” read on one beige coat, the words wrapped around the body in straw jacquard, worn by a model with a typical model face signature look -smize. “Bad lover” read on other garments. “This is another way to say, ‘You can use whatever you want, however you are’. That’s it,” Piccioli concluded. Here are the highlights from the day:
