From the Chaismus archive: April 6th, 2022. "VALENTINO. FALL 2022 READY-TO-WEAR. PARIS FASHION WEEK"









(Images:  Valentino 2022)

Color blind Deuteranopians rejoice, Pierpaolo Piccioli, creative director for Valentino, has set forth a completely vivid fuchsia collection without any green (or any other color for the matter) in sight.  So there is definitely no confusion here as to what color is being represented and if you see an abundance of the reddish purple hues (pink?) don't blink, your retina is seeing it correctly. We hope. In the meantime there is, somewhat, a hesitant return to the runways from the look books of 2020 and 2021, as the COVID pandemic of two years ago seems to have abated, sans the newer strains and Long-Covid isn't just some made up medical term. Yes, humanity has certainly been scarred by this new virus, yet the show must go on and Piccioli has set forth a stunning array for Valentino's latest Fall collection. 

Although the delineations of the pink may be slightly overbearing, what it does achieve is a concentration on individual pieces rather than a whole collection, revealing how sleek and defined Piccioli's tenure has been with Valentino in the twenty years plus he has been designing for the iconic Italian label.  Despite this being a Ready-to-Wear collection, it could, at least visually, pass as a couture stylization, with its large presentation of 81 pieces. 

What is interesting about Piccioli's pink overlay, he has, halfway through the collection, inserted a gothic and avant-garde tinged look with the non-color black, that as noted with my reviews for 2021 and 2022, has been the major trend on the runway, which, in my opinion, is indicative of the paroxysm of our times.  And fashion as a guiding aesthetic in understanding human psychology, even from an inclusive luxury endpoint, was made clear throughout the pandemic and now a terrible war in the Ukraine, that no one is really unaffected by this dire state of the world.  The human race very much could be at a turning point, beyond any Hollywood drama.  

Valentino's Fall 2022 collection heavily focuses on 1980's inspired cocktail dresses and glamour, with dashes of male styles, which is Piccioli's continued romanticism with the late 1980's and early 80s excesses. Evident throughout his latest styles, as a reinvigoration of that devil-may-care attitude under the shadow of the first Cold War.  Incorporating a latent trend of the last three years of the Eros, that for the most part, has struggled to gain traction amidst the seriousness and conservatism of the fashion industry.  Yet with all this pent up desire to be released through the calamity, there is a yearning to represent a more sensual exposé via the runway.  Piccioli's all pink (or is it fuchsia?) with his cryptic black styles infused into the rufescent, does indeed add another layer to his already portfolio of looks, whilst incorporating the amorous. 



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(A.Glass 2022)

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