Of course, only the masterful colourist Pierpaolo Piccioli could invent 63 new and vibrant ways to wear black. The Valentino Creative Director has long been a fan of using colour (who could forget Pink PP?) to communicate radical new ideas through the language of design: Magical embroidery, surreal textures and the like. It’s why Piccioli has always excelled in couture, in particular, and often brings that same reverence for technique into his ready-to-wear collections.
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It takes a real genius to see colour where there arguably is none, but black is deep, and always has been. Piccioli, never one to take fashion for granted, mined everything we know, love and hate about it for this collection, and left nothing more to be desired. Every look was deep in feeling, wisdom, and of course, details. The monochromatic palette this season turned our attention to the beautiful mish-mash of tulle and lace, the shiny surface of matte materials, the many shades of sheer black fabric, and a fringed blazer swathed in sequins, dancing under the reflection of light. Only Valentino could take a colour normally associated with death and darkness, and turn it into something so quintessentially romantic.
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There is romance in darkness, though, as evidenced by some of the standout looks from this season’s collection. A sheer lace dress with magnificently magnified floral appliques appears less translucent in this colour, more fierce and powerful than dainty and delicate—the sort of mature romance which one might call love instead of limerence. The trompe l’oeil effect which Piccioli does so well is employed here in the form of a jumpsuit which looks like a padded-shoulder top paired with trousers, softening the silhouette much like chinks in the armour hiding our deepest and darkest vulnerabilities. For all that Piccioli has said about subverting gender roles, power structures and so forth, this collection may have put forth the most convincing case for rethinking what we know to be true today about life, love and everything in between.
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Only the most multifaceted of designers could see black in all its strengths and weaknesses—it is arguably the most human of colours considering how misunderstood it is. But both strength and weakness are illustrated beautifully here, making for a cohesive, fully-formed collection which explores the depths of this new humanity—a testament to Piccioli’s extraordinary talent for taking a colour and making it his own.