All eyes are then now set on Paris. A focusing that
sharpens and tenses itself, impossible to deny it, right from the start. In fact, between the first, great names to conquer the
runway there’s him: the super blazoned Valentino. Right on the day when Valentino will walk the Parisian
runways again with his Spring/Summer 2016 Haute Couture collection, we’re
providing you a look and a thought about their latest Fall/Winter 2016 Menswear
collection, who graced the catwalk exactly one week ago on the first day of
Paris Fashion Week.
His FW16 - get ready from now on - wears folk, Old America’s fantasies and
checked motifs. A fast alternation of chesses, ethnic drawings, suggestions who
rode through centuries with a youthful and modern touch to settle down on sportive
jackets, fluttering mantels and short coats, which barely brush against the knee.
Valentino's creative duo Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli took the quest for youth quite literally and sent out some fine
looking Boy Scouts on their Parisian runway. As Raf Simons also referred to the
Boy Scout aesthetics later that day, we wonder whether the designers in Paris
just might have set the tone for this season's new, fashionable style element.
The saying goes “two is a coincidence, but three is a trend”, so before going
deeper into that subject we might rather want to wait for the Paris men's
collections to unfurl a bit further. Chiuri and Piccioli did what they do best:
mix-matching a range of cultural references, memories, and emblems for a
métissage of style that calls for individuality, think Boy Scout versus punk
and classic versus tribal and translating these inspirations into a highly
wearable men's collection. Existentialist statements like “adventure as a self-examination” and “into the wild” were on the menu of Valentino's show and made for a
desirable collection that questioned the process of youth as a constant
exploration and discovery.
On the Parisian catwalks, Valentino’s collection
proposed an aesthetical vision of the masculine universe, which plays with a
real tribe of styles, emphasizing the concept of individuality and, at the same
time, playing with bohemian, gothic and dandy styles. The silhouettes and the proposals
manner extends itself in fact on multiple decades, and as icons we meet again
Jack Kerouac and Pier Paolo Pasolini. Long black double coats, but also navy
military detailed, camel and Loden overcoats are the outerwear proposals, while
suits are covered in studs and crystals on the shoulders, little punk touches
also on the black leathers and the blousons. Right after that, the Navaho style
pops up, with ponchos, cowboy shirts and field jackets.
Chess motives, embroidered denim and
ethnic drawings. Grunge, 70’s rock, but most of all folk. «We let us guide from a specific idea of existentialism, from that same
sort of precariousness that has been that period’s detonator. Nowadays, after
all, we live in a moment of insecurity, which not always means negativity, but
that might be the stimulation to a renovation and transformation»,
explained Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli at the show’s backstage. Then stars and feathered fringes. «We embraced punk’s motto “Do it
yourself… express yourself” as our very own», continue the
designers. A great homage to the freedom of the couture soul.
Yes, it’s fashion protocol, but pinning one’s mood(s) to a board to
telegraph a collection always seems an act of casual faux-creative cruelty not
unlike skewering a once-fluttering butterfly in a showcase. This evening atValentino, though, the
mood board was a beautiful, beautiful thing: because they helped enormously to
delineate the outrageous variety of thought mustered byMaria Grazia ChiuriandPierpaolo Picciolias they mustered this collection, made
of four densely packed indexes of influences. From Burroughs to Kerouac via mix
tapes, Pearly Queens (Gucciwent there,
too), punks, wage slaves, Paul, Mick, John, Sid, Sartre, ethnicity, and several
dissertations’ worth more. So what was the unifying factor? Chiuri said: «It’s about groups.AboutOn the Road,Into the Wild. It’s
about a trip around the world but also into yourself.». Piccioli added: «It’s starting from the idea of
existentialism. As coming out from a safe situation and rethinking the new, a
sense of being a man in the world. Existentialism was born between the two
World Wars and it became more strong after the Second World War, after dignity
was destroyed. You have to find your own individuality, your own way to express
yourself.». The upshot was that this was a valiantly sincere effort to
engage with the real problems of now through the entirely insufficient medium
of gorgeously made menswear. After a long black turtleneck section that came
spiked with studded businessman but was an ode to the founding fathers of
ontological dissonance, this collection exploded into mood board–spawned variation.
The point was to present man as his own narrative device, his own protagonist,
author of his story. Yes, the fact that it was done so within the remit of a
fashion show was perhaps unintentionally ironic, but the message stood. Clothes
are articulated only by their wearer. But this Valentino show collection gave
you something to say, beautifully, straight out of the box.
«At
Valentino it’s a sure thing: the Rome-based house has its foundations set in
impeccable craftsmanship, when you buy a Valentino coat you buy a piece of
couture. This season they were dark, sharply cut, double cashmere (and double
breasted), often modish. Dove grey pieces had their shoulders drawn attention
via tiny embellishments. From Look 10 the monochrome palette was broken up, first
with a classic camel trench, then with a tasty, shiny wine-coloured coat.Now to those fine
white dots, lines and symbols that were cast across looks 16 through 19, a nod
to what the show notes described as “tribal embellishments” and Pacific
Northwest traces. Where this time last year the focus was on abstract art
movements like cubism and futurism, this time the designers looked to a
different kind of cultural visual motif. This influence became more apparent as
we progressed from the formal and evening-heavy first segment of looks, but
soon we got an explosion of super worn out, blue washed denim (customised with
studs) and worn with Texan style shirts and paired with geometric printed
jackets, shirts, technicolour Navajo blankets, tassel jewellery and neck
scarves, it adeptly falls into place. Killer cropped denim jackets morphed into
check shearling lined ones, but it was the ending that really resonated on a
very Valentino level. Two full check looks, both tailored, one green one red.
The converging of impeccable workmanship, of elegance, and of something that
felt self-confident - and inescapably punk.».
«Throughout the Creative Directors
Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Picciol, the Italian fashion powerhouse came
out strong and swinging during Paris Fashion Week. The adventure of
self-examination and the quest for self-discovery is written all over the
collection pieces. Go pattern crazy. Just run with it. Be brave, daring and
throw on a graphic poncho or jacket. Love colours? We do! These suits are a
must-have to add to the wardrobe. Not everyone is looking to be that
adventurous from the start. Valentino presented minimalistic, simple designs,
but kept the excitement in traditional silhouettes and simple patterns.».
It's a story about two room mates who just love living their lives. Join our journey. «To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.»
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