Valentino Spreads the Love

“The people you love become ghosts inside of you and like this you keep them alive.” The Robert Montgomery word art installation glowed at the edge of the runway, greeting guests at Sunday’s Valentino show and heralding a collection dedicated to, well, love, and the power of words and clothes to convey that most pure feeling. Pierpaolo Piccioli has the clothing part down. The designer is at the top of his game for his ability to design clothes that feel modern while referencing elegant, sculpted couture shapes (sloped shoulders, slightly rounded backs, full floor-length A-line skirts) andfor his ability to present clothes that make you feel something. The words part, Piccioli left to Robert Montgomery and three other contemporary poets-Greta Bellamacina, Mustafa the Poet, and Yrsa Daley-Ward. They each contributed poetry to a small book, titled Valentino ON LOVE, distributed to guests at the show. Snippets of their poetry also appeared on the clothes, across a sheer blouse or on the cuff of a wool coat.

Piccioli tapped Jun Takahashi from Undercover to create collage prints inspired by love, which showed up on dresses and tops and trenches and imbued the collection with a streetwear sensibility. It takes confidence for a designer to enlist the talents of another rising star, as Piccioli has done with Takahashi. There’s a risk that one might outshine the other. But here it was a seamless collaboration, with Takehashi’s colorful collages enhancing without overpowering Piccioli’s designs.