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Valentino: Poetry in Motion and Mode

Poetry was an apt way to describe Wednesday’s runway show from the house of Valentino, an elegant visual dissertation on the art of haute couture.

Though using many of the house’s “codes” for luxury, like lace, semi-sheer and lingerie, Valentino’s joint creative directors Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli took a bold step in establishing their own aesthetic for this famed label.

Moreover, they also broke new ground with the color palette; banished from their catwalk was the signature sinful red for which Valentino was famed. Even the fabric roses were all black or the muddiest brown.

Where their debut outing was too restrained, too much homage to the house’s traditions, this time Chiuri and Piccioli took a lot more chances and their gutsy performance worked.

Ruffled, layered and semi-sheer shirts and minis, asymmetrical cocktails with twisting floral patterns, Bird of Paradise patchwork rouched chiffon skirts and suggestive transparent blouses all looked great.

But their best ideas were the raciest; like the pulse-quickening strapless bustier cocktail in tulle worn by model Anna Selezneva that will send young lotharios wild.

Paris has been a season when too many couturiers have generally just re-interpreted their own canon. Not Chiuri and Piccioli, who tried out some pretty audacious new concepts, like their way-over-the-top booties with giant leather back fins or some faintly absurd balloon ball gowns in weird sculpted shapes. But better the odd clanger in a risk-taking collection than predictable banality.

The duo also have a subtle sense of how to stage their own collections, reinforcing the after-midnight romantic mood with giant screens on which were projected smoke whirls. Backed up by a great soundtrack of Tori Amos and Antony and the Johnsons and accessorized with some beautiful lace masks, this was a memorable couture moment.

Chiuri and Piccioli, initially suspected by many critics of being accessories designers promoted above their station, turn out to have the design chops for couture. This pair appears to have real staying power.

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