Skip to content
subscribe
Account
SEARCH

Categories

LASTEST

Contemporizing the Classical with Valentino Couture

Sarah Bochicchio

10 July 2014

For Valentino’s fall/winter 2014-15 haute couture collection, Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli seem to have again ventured through art historical archives, this time settling on Pre-Raphaelite art. Engaging with their city’s past, Chiuri and Piccioli explored the regality and paganism of a bygone, Imperial Rome.

Rich black, white, silver, gold, and emerald hark back to an empress’ jewels as Pythagorean shapes and intricate swatches of tapestry revived the echo of some Homeric tale. Frothy silks and near-nude ensembles conjured up images of Greek goddesses: Aphrodite rising from the sea or Artemis sprinting through the woods.

Courtesy of Valentino

Despite its labyrinthine details, the collection reverberated with simplicity. The garments’ clean silhouettes paired well with Valentino’s flat, cross-laced sandals, getting to the core of classical ease. Dreamy and delicate rather than manneristic or overabundant, the collection proved that Chiuri and Piccioli can make anything—even antiquities—feel exquisitely modern.

SAME AS TODAY

FURTHER READING

The View at The Palm Opens in Dubai with Human-Centric Purpose

Whitewall spoke with John Bricker of Gensler about The View at The Palm in Dubai.

Louis Fratino Finds Power in Images of What We Love

Louis Fratino spoke with Whitewall about keeping the studio a space free from fear of failure.

The BMW Neue Klasse Looks to an All-Electric Future

The BMW Neue Klasse is a statement piece for a new era: design language that references classic BMW for its soon-to-be all-electric lineup.

SUBSCRIBE TO MAGAZINE

Kelly Wearstler

THE WINTER EXPERIENCE ISSUE
2023

Subscribe

SUBSCRIBE TO NEWSLETTER

Go inside the worlds of Art, Fashion, Design and Lifestyle.

READ THIS NEXT

SUBSCRIBE TO NEWSLETTER

Go inside the worlds
of Art, Fashion, Design,
and Lifestyle.