We do not own the rights to any of these images and they have been used in good faith. Every effort has been made to ensure that all images are used with proper credits. If you are the rightful owner of any image used on our site and wish to have it removed, please contact us at ayerhsmagazine@gmail.com and we will promptly remove it. We are a non-commercial, passion-driven, independent fashion blog and do not intend to infringe any copyright. Thank you for your understanding.
Valentino means red, so the boldest thing about Fall 2012 is that Chiuri and Piccioli turned to blue, from royal to midnight. Critics traced it to Giotto’s Madonnas and to Botticelli, and the designers’ own mood board was full of nineteenth-century Symbolists. The house’s outgoing glamour gave way to something more inward.
The silhouette was long and covered: floor-length dresses, fluid capes, high collars and long sleeves, with the hair pulled straight back. Brocade, velvet and double cashmere were somehow made to look weightless. A coat covered in cashmere flowers and leaves, based on William Morris’s Tree of Life, and a navy plissé gown with a black shadow falling diagonally across it are two of the most beautiful pieces the pair ever made.
The look everyone talked about was a blue velvet column with a jewelled cut-out at the front, like a cathedral window. Brocade got a jolt of yellow, and red only came back towards the very end.
Reviews were among the strongest the duo had received. Godfrey Deeny described a state of grace, Interview said the audience was floating by the time the velvet column appeared, and Vogue’s Sarah Mower noted the house’s appeal widening every season. One blogger found it all a little too pious: regal, but sanctimonious.
Dark, rich and confident, this is the season Chiuri and Piccioli stopped being polite. One of their best.
More Valentino: see every Valentino couture collection we have reviewed and Valentino Garavani: The Complete Guide.
Previous collection: Valentino Spring 2012 Couture · Next collection: Valentino Spring 2013 Couture
Pictures courtesy of Vogue Runway
We do not own the rights to any of these images and they have been used in good faith. Every effort has been made to ensure that all images are used with proper credits. If you are the rightful owner of any image used on our site and wish to have it removed, please contact us at ayerhsmagazine@gmail.com and we will promptly remove it. We are a non-commercial, passion-driven, independent fashion blog and do not intend to infringe any copyright. Thank you for your understanding.
Leave a Reply