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Valentino has left the building. Only wait a minute. No, he hasn’t — either literally or figuratively. Valentino was greeted with a round of applause when he arrived at the Sorbonne’s Grand Amphitheatre for the debut of the new design team of his former house. And some debut it was, on a slick circular stage installed in a famed institution, with a large string orchestra providing the music.
It was clear from the get-go after the abrupt firing of Alessandra Facchinetti (who didn’t, by the way, go three-sleeve wacky with the house heritage) that Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli had a mandate: Stick to the style of Valentino himself. Note to all who do or might purchase a storied fashion house: One designer cannot re-create the work of another, especially a really beloved and famous one whose supersignature work was refined over decades. The annals are filled with such failed attempts. (Is Bill Blass on anyone’s show schedule next month?)
Which is not to say that Chiuri and Piccioli are not up to the design challenge; that jury is out. Certainly they’ve worked wonders with the accessories, and may have within themselves the stuff of fine couturiers. Many of the clothes they showed on Wednesday looked appealing enough: trim suits, mostly a megahomage to Valentino’s white collection; coats detailed beautifully, either with embroideries or intricate constructions; an extensive, quite Val-like pitch to the red-carpet set. These were impressively executed, lacking neither flourish nor couture-quality craftsmanship. But too many could have been sourced right out of the house pattern archive.
Valentino is a remarkable designer who, by choice, retired with a dazzling body of work to his credit. It deserves to be respected and built upon. His successors deserve the chance to give it a go — their way.
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