Valentino fall 2015

Let me get this off my chest now... why is it so great to have the Zoolander guys on the runway? Do they have anything association to the house? Was this a men’s show? It evades me and makes me think how much money changed hands to get them on that runway? (Thank you RK for planting that seed)

Okay now that the important stuff is out of the way let’s get to the collection. Apparently there is a memo going around that says you guys need to make/design clothes that are wearable... given the proper situation both socially and financially. The latter in this case is primo as the clothes have now become aspirational to so many and affordable for so few. Oops!! Here I am talking dirty again! Well the clothes are now as close to couture as possible and their selling prices are reflective of the extreme workmanship that goes into them. My question is how can they say that the audience is growing when the clothes are now from mid-4  figures to around $15,000USD… seems odd but the price tags can certainly elevate the sales numbers.. Let alone the shoes and bags! Okay enough dirty talk... back to the clothes

The overall appearance is surely less monsastic and less artsy craftsy than the last few seasons and there were some extraordinary stripe laced pieces which are pieced together in the most delicate of ways. They are hugely beautiful and am quite sure they are hugely in the 5 figure category. There are some sold crepe pieces in black and white which seem to be somewhat commercial... not Macy’s commercial but couture-ish commercial.  Love them?? Not so much. And then the last third of the presentation it is back to the exceptional techniques and workmanship that have become part of what Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli have incorporated into the DNA of the present day Valentino. There are pieces that are beyond description and then there are pieces that just puzzle me no matter what it took to make them. Nope... I have no clue what to say about the opening checker board pieces other than stalemate!

No matter ... me thinks the collection is a lot more palatable than it has been and will attract more of those ladies who can afford the price of this kind of beauty!