In fashion news that nobody saw coming, Pierpaolo Piccioli announced that he will be departing from the Italian house Valentino after 25 years. His beginnings at Valentino started as an accessories designer in 1999 before being appointed co-creative director in 2008 alongside now creative director of Dior, Maria Grazia Chiuri. Piccioli became the sole creative director of Valentino in 2016, a post he has proudly held until now.
His tenure at Valentino was one described as dreamlike romance. His influence was instrumental in redefining Valentino for the era after the retirement of the brand’s founder, Valentino Garavani. His shows often floated between painterly netherworlds of striking palettes that were sometimes unexpected but always engaging and beautiful silhouettes and lines that were sometimes complete with ostrich feather hats that strut down the runway with grace. He held couture extravaganzas on the Spanish Steps in Rome and the Chateau de Chantilly in France, embraced diversity in all forms, and was never afraid to experiment with distinct colors.
In fact, one of the most memorable moments in his career was when Valentino became synonymous with the color hot pink, essentially reviving the hue and giving it a whole new meaning. In 2022, he devoted almost an entire ready-to-wear collection to the color, called “Pink PP ” after his initials, that proved to be an effective viral marketing tool. However, his most recent ready-to-wear collection was entirely black, a reflection of the dark time in which we are living.
Piccioli’s approach to fashion was deeply rooted in his passion for craftsmanship, prioritizing artistry over commercialism. He famously remarked to the New York Times about the industry’s shift towards prioritizing profits over creativity, stating “The money has won. Producers are stronger than musicians. Galleries are stronger than painters. And big groups are stronger than designers.”
Here, some of our Valentino moments powered by Pierpaolo Piccioli.
Valentino Fall 2022 Couture
Staged at the famed Spanish Steps in Rome, where the Valentino headquarters stand, this collection was deemed to be a conversation between Piccioli and the founder of the brand, Garvani, told in a language of aesthetics. The rose motif that was once the house’s signature was present however reimaged to modern times, punctuated with ruffles galore, an extravagant color palette, feathers, and most importantly, inclusivity. This collection was expansive in ideas and emotion; embracing all forms of age, size and shade and ridding the fashion world of all forms of rigidity.
Valentino Fall 2022 Ready-To-Wear
For Fall 2022, Piccioli dedicated the majority of his show to a particularly vivid shade of fuchsia. He worked with Pantone to create “Pink PP,” and designed almost every look in the notice-me color. He even painted his set in the shade. The label went on to be synonymous with this color, replacing the brand’s signature red hue, and becoming one of the season’s hottest trends.
Valentino Spring 2021 Couture
Alongside the glorious gowns and plentiful daywear, Piccioli introduced Couture for men which translated as simple pieces, in sumptuous fabrics– a silk trench came with a secret moiré lining and why have conventional knitwear when you can have an emerald green silk lamé turtleneck instead? The rituals and processes of Couture are age-old, but Piccioli strives to make his “A Couture of today,” where the aim is pure human self-expression.
Valentino Fall 2020 Couture
Liberated from the constraints of the traditional catwalk, Piccioli ventured into uncharted territory, redefining the standard runway presentation. This departure facilitated a mesmerizing visual spectacle directed by Nick Knight, captured within the storied confines of Rome’s Cinecittà movie studios. Models basked under the glow of spotlights, perched atop lofty plinths, their voluminous Couture gowns cascading elegantly to the ground below. The question arose: How impactful can a garment be when its wearer remains stationary? The resounding response: Utterly transformative.
Valentino Spring 2019 Couture
His genius is to harness the power of beauty in all its breathtaking, surprising, and utterly compelling glory. He does this with clothes that tap into the emotions, and through storytelling. People wept at the Spring 2019 Valentino Couture show. The designer went on to explain he’d been thinking about the marginalization of Black women both in the Renaissance art that inspired him and in the cannon of couture imagery that informs his work. He thought: What if Cecil Beaton’s famous 1948 tableau of a group of couture-clad models was recreated with Black women?
