Valentino PFW fall 2017

Let’s start with the assets or positive things that I might say about the collection. Pier Paolo has finally ditched the menopausal color palette that he has been so fond of, let’s say that the collection is boldly and beautifully filled with color, we can also see that without question, the ”make” of the clothes is superb and finally the monastic vestal virgins who inhabited his “nunnery’ have been banished. It is nice to see these very young girls wearing a dab of makeup and with hair beautifully groomed. Also importantly is that the sheer factor was not in the majority… blessedly. 

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Okay now onto the “meat” of it. Editing might have helped, variation in length might have helped and then of course there is the mere fact that most of the clothes were shapeless (think tent dresses not trapeze) and about as sexy as a snuggie. We might also point out that there was no beauty in the Etsy necklace which seems to have been the accessory of choice.  Sadly, glamour Valentino style includes all clothes worn with boots or “bedroom scuffs”… you remember those don’t you? So all I can gather from this and from seeing a good deal of the audience is that the collection is aimed at roughly aged 20-35 women   or women of a certain age who wish to cover every inch of themselves.

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My question is how many of the so called millennial generation are spending in the neighborhood of 5,000 to look like a “couture” hippy in a granny dress?

So with all that said, and I could say much more… whatever happened to the roots of the brand? You know the tarty stuff… the stuff that made women feel sexy and sometimes matronly but always glamorous and chic. Huh? What happened to that? What happened to the logic involved in creating a collection that can be afforded by the audience that it appeals to? Tell me …. Someone?? Anyone??  

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 Has aspiration shopping turned into the local thrift store shopper?