The daffodils may be coming up, but anyone hoping for a cheering splash of color at Paris Fashion Week would be sorely disappointed by Valentino’s show yesterday.
Normally, the Italian fashion house can embrace color with exuberance – in 2022, creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli memorably dressed his models in a particular shade of fuchsia for the Valentino Pink PP collection.
Yet ‘lively’ is certainly not the first word that comes to mind when you look at Valentino’s new autumn/winter collection Le Noir. ‘Funeral’ might be a more appropriate description.
Piccioli focused on texture, with the sheerest chiffon, the most delicate lace and the most shimmering sequins creating points of interest. Even the models’ lips were painted glossy black.
He made the collection even more interesting by playing with silhouettes. Are you ready for the eighties power shoulder? Let’s hope. There were also balloon sleeves, deep V-necklines and A-line miniskirts.
A model walking down the runway during the Valentino fashion show. Designers often turn to black in challenging economic times, as its flattering quality is inevitably a vote winner with customers
The Balenciaga show was also very black, with the brand’s current face, Kim Kardashian (pictured), sitting front row in a body-conscious black dress with what appeared to be the dress label still (intentionally) attached
Tennis star Maria Sharapova during the Valentino fashion show during Paris Fashion Week. ‘Vibrant’ is certainly not the first word that comes to mind when you look at Valentino’s new autumn/winter collection Le Noir. ‘Funeral’ might be a more appropriate description
Bridgerton star Simone Ashley was also at the Valentino show. Normally, the Italian fashion house can embrace color with exuberance – in 2022, creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli memorably dressed his models in a particular shade of fuchsia for the Valentino Pink PP collection
A model walking down the runway during the Valentino fashion show. Are you ready for the eighties power shoulder? Let’s hope. There were also balloon sleeves, deep V-necklines and A-line miniskirts
Fans of Valentino’s opulent leather bags had plenty of (black) eye candy to fixate on, in a variety of sizes ranging from dainty clutches to roomy totes.
Not all of Valentino’s celebrity guests had gotten the memo. Model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley wore a cropped gray top, gray midi skirt and white stilettos, but tennis star Maria Sharapova stuck to the theme on the catwalk in a long black dress and coat, as did Bridgerton’s Simone Ashley.
Designers often turn to black in challenging economic times, as its flattering quality is inevitably a vote winner with customers.
The Balenciaga show was also very black, with the brand’s current face, Kim Kardashian, front row in a body-conscious black dress with what appeared to be the dress label still (intentionally) attached.
At the Alexander McQueen show on Saturday, creative director Sean McGirr presented his first collection for the house, and much of it was black.
At Comme des Garcons, designer Rei Kawakubo presented a sculptural, voluminous black collection.
“The collection is about my current state of mind,” she explained in the accompanying show notes. “I’m angry at everything in the world, especially at myself.”
Whether anger or simply the desire to look slimmer is your motivation, it looks like we’ll all be black again come fall.