'Viva Italia," said Giorgio Armani, punching the air in front of a window overlooking the Place Vendôme in support of Alessandra Facchinetti as the young designer showed her first Valentino couture collection since the founder retired.
In the front row sat the starlet Camilla Belle in a fluffy white tulle dress, her movie credits in "When a Stranger Calls" an appropriate title for this dramatic generational changing of the guard.
Yet as the models stepped out delicately in the fairy-like dresses, with light layers creating sculptural ovoid shapes, the collection did not seem that of an outsider, but of a designer loyal to everything Valentino has stood for - though from an ultra-feminine point of view. That meant there was a meringue-sweet lightness about the dresses, with their boulle skirts, crystal embroidery and fluffy ruffs, which the designer said before the show had been inspired by the jabots of Van Dyck's paintings.
The overall effect was fresh and pretty but with nothing to challenge Valentino's classic concept that fashion should be a gift to women, wrapping them in a pretty parcel of finery.
For a first effort at couture, the show was an exercise less in cut than in original embellishment, from the origami effects to woolen bobbles on a long chartreuse gown to the metallic wheels that appeared on shoes or as jewelry. The house is famous for ruffles and frills, but Facchinetti could have reduced the sugar quotient - not least when it came as undulating waves of fabric rising up the back of a skirt.
It seems strange that someone so young should not take a more feminist point of view about fashion for the fast-paced modern woman, who does not go out only for cocktails or balls where standing up is essential in order not to crush a chicken-feather rear.
Facchinetti did build her silhouette on architecture, not least the opening outfit of jacket and skirt sculpted with stiffened silk. Other square-cut pieces, like a turquoise coat, was as rich as a cream cake with embroidery.
But the designer is allowed to express her sugar-plum fairy fantasy of femininity. And it was good to see the synergy between her and the long-serving couture hands at Valentino.
From the invitation printed on tissue paper to the airy lightness of the show, Facchinetti proved that she is more than a featherweight designer. And for her big challenge - the Valentino red dress - she had a winner: a draped chiffon dress, its hot color bleeding over shell-like tulle tufts, to make a strong ending.
Yet as the models stepped out delicately in the fairy-like dresses, with light layers creating sculptural ovoid shapes, the collection did not seem that of an outsider, but of a designer loyal to everything Valentino has stood for - though from an ultra-feminine point of view. That meant there was a meringue-sweet lightness about the dresses, with their boulle skirts, crystal embroidery and fluffy ruffs, which the designer said before the show had been inspired by the jabots of Van Dyck's paintings.
The overall effect was fresh and pretty but with nothing to challenge Valentino's classic concept that fashion should be a gift to women, wrapping them in a pretty parcel of finery.
For a first effort at couture, the show was an exercise less in cut than in original embellishment, from the origami effects to woolen bobbles on a long chartreuse gown to the metallic wheels that appeared on shoes or as jewelry. The house is famous for ruffles and frills, but Facchinetti could have reduced the sugar quotient - not least when it came as undulating waves of fabric rising up the back of a skirt.
It seems strange that someone so young should not take a more feminist point of view about fashion for the fast-paced modern woman, who does not go out only for cocktails or balls where standing up is essential in order not to crush a chicken-feather rear.
Facchinetti did build her silhouette on architecture, not least the opening outfit of jacket and skirt sculpted with stiffened silk. Other square-cut pieces, like a turquoise coat, was as rich as a cream cake with embroidery.
But the designer is allowed to express her sugar-plum fairy fantasy of femininity. And it was good to see the synergy between her and the long-serving couture hands at Valentino.
From the invitation printed on tissue paper to the airy lightness of the show, Facchinetti proved that she is more than a featherweight designer. And for her big challenge - the Valentino red dress - she had a winner: a draped chiffon dress, its hot color bleeding over shell-like tulle tufts, to make a strong ending.
Source: iht.com
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