Discover Top Posts Tagged with #pre-fall2013

Gabriele Colangelo Pre-Fall 2013. Really liking all the colours and the textures.

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valentino pre-fall 2013

(images via vogue)

i'd like to warn you beforehand that this will be a lengthy extravaganza. but that's because designers maria grazia chiuri and pier paolo piccioli of valentino chose this season--pre-fall 2013, if one can call that a season--to show a whopping 70 (yes, count them, 70) looks for their collection. now, we all understand that the likes of oscar de la renta and chanel have done the very same for their pre-fall collections this season, but i suppose we could also add that they, at least, treated us to a real runway showcase.

but anyway, as i said last season, if the numerous seasons opt has been reviewing valentino both for rtw (see resort 2011, s/s 2011, a/w 2011, s/s 2012, a/w 2012, resort 2013, s/s 2013) and haute couture (see s/s 2010 hc, a/w 2010 hc, s/s 2011 hc, a/w 2011 hc, s/s 2012 hc, a/w 2012 hc) have taught us (and okaaaay, mostly me) anything, it's that there is something to find amid all the girlish and 'squeeeeezing that last little bit of cute outta life' finery, that whatever my problems with the designers (and there are still many), for better or worse, they're here to stay, and we all probably ought begin making our peace with it.

and really, it does seem there's something to the pre-collections, which somehow--at least, for the most part--seem to relinquish some of their schoolgirl-ian moments in favour of an element a little more classically beautiful and...dare i say understated? is that possible, chez valentino? yet, before i get into that, stay a moment, because all the same, i just thought i should mention that i found something else rather interesting.

this would be the subject of the lookbook casting for this, um, 'season' (seriously, i never know what to call it). that is that they opted for the sweet-faced (almost a return to the doll faces of yore; gemma ward, sasha pivovarova, lisa cant, and jessica stam--doesn't she have something similar?) dutch model, maud welzen as their main pictoral subject. doesn't she remind you of the cutest girl on the playground in her little plaid jumper? yeah, that's what i think when i see her as well.

but i'm sorry, we should get back to the clothes. anyway, we've seen, over the past handful of seasons, some hints of kind of victorian governess-y primness, what with the careful embroidery and rows of buttons, and this was hinted at again today, albeit with other flairs that kept things on the less flamboyant level than these designers sometimes like to go. truly, for me, it's those high necks, ruffles, lace, and fussy victoriana that draw me in, but on the other hand, i can say that today i appreciate how they sliced it with more 'modern' aspects, and some of the lean/mod sixties/seventies elements they so adore.

or, as wwd was to explain it, "(t)he rebellious spirit of the Seventies reworked with a couture aesthetic defined Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli's Valentino collection. 'We focused on beauty and elegance, charging them with tension because contrasts create a dynamism which, for us, represents the essence of contemporary style,' said Chiuri, citing Guy Bourdin and Helmut Newton's works as inspiration" (ed note: because we haven't seen helmut newton everywhere from julien macdonald in london to bcbg max azria and j. mendel in new york to carl kapp in sydney and arthur mendonça in toronto. yeesh).

alors. sorry. the site carried on that "(f)or a hyper-feminine look, there were clean, ivory wool capes worn over delicate embroidered shirts and wool skirts. But the designers also proved that they’re capable of quirkier, edgier looks. A black jacket, for example, was paired with a matching pencil skirt with an oversize structured ruffle hem." and seriously, it was that latter look that was particularly enticing to me, for it was what really married some of my love for the frippily feminine with a blazer ever so sleek-and-sharp. and we could see it shine.

anyway, this season, "a little rebelliousness has has crept into the romanticism," claimed art info. "Along with the label’s signature scarlet red — to which a substantial passage of the collection was dedicated — the designers have established some new codes of their own, namely a demure silhouette with long sheer sleeves and a high neck. The shape was seen as a formal gown with appliqued roses on a dusty floral print and on a trio of intricately beaded dresses. Its most surprising application, however, was a va-va-voom high-gloss patent mini-skirt, its aggressive sex appeal tempered, and somehow simultaneously intensified, by its starched-white color."

"There was, of course," they hastened to tell us, "softness to be found, in generously ruffled skirts, capes, and a beaded jumpsuit in blush. With each new collection, Chiuri and Piccioli continue to explore the limits of couture techniques, creating a range of looks with the highest level of craftsmanship and material — leather, lace, collaged fur, leopard-print leather and a decadent dose of crocodile — all the way down to a heavily embellished puffer parka."

and elsewhere, style chimed in that "Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli have resuscitated the Valentino label by applying, as they say, 'the culture of couture to all categories'—even T-shirts. That kind of juxtaposition is integral to the current incarnation of the brand's DNA. Riffing on the idea of opposites for pre-fall, they were thinking along both regal and subversive lines. Regal, as in all manner of capes—from a quilted puffer version with a fur collar (part of a new Sub-Zero Couture capsule) to slimmer styles in elaborate macramé. Subversion entered the picture via glossy patent leather in white, black, and red. Red was Mr. Valentino's color, of course, but here it shed most of its romantic associations."

"This was a racy red, and there will be no missing the woman who wears their fire-engine trench. In the end, though, that kind of flash was only a fraction of the story. Part of the appeal of couture-quality clothes are the hidden luxuries, and it doesn't get more subtly sensational than a crocodile coat bonded to cashmere, or a fur camouflaged with pelts sheared to different lengths. 'We don't want to do generic pieces,' Piccioli said. No chance of that. For their evening dresses, they focused mostly on softer colors like grayed-out florals and barely discernible pastels, along with a few reds. There were several lovely gowns, especially the hand-beaded red ones, but they seemed to be saving the wow factor for their real couture show in Paris next week," they concluded.

and finally, we heard from the conversational vogue, which played it easy this time around by merely giving us a list: " By now we’ve come to have a clear idea of what [the designers] believe to be the key pieces of a Valentino wardrobe: 1. A short dress with long sleeves. 2. A feminine and/or unconventional trench. 3. A lace dress, unadorned for day and embellished for night. 4. A jumpsuit. It makes perfect sense, then, that they would use a transitional season to focus on these signature silhouettes and play with materials and treatments so that the resulting pieces look like your favorite dress/trench/jumpsuit but still make the pulse quicken."

"The selection the duo created for pre-fall was a striking mix of graphic black, white, and red clothes done in everything from a Moroccan-feeling macramé to slick patent leather...The lines were clean and simple and followed that same sweet but strong story line that Chiuri and Piccioli have been weaving. It was most powerful in a great pale-pink look: a cocoon cape with a structured ruffle hem and matching straight cropped pants. If anything, there was a more monastic feel...Evening looks—mostly lacy, long-sleeved, and to the floor—included a long chiffon dress and suit in a smoky, blurred floral. Until this collection, prints were one territory Chiuri and Piccioli had left relatively unexplored. Could this be a hint of what’s to come for fall?" they closed by querying.

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