Fall 2019
The Valentino Ready-to-Wear Fall 2019 Collection was presented on March 4, 2019, by creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli. This season, he collaborated with Jun Takahashi to create a series of collaged prints with florals and 19th neoclassical sculptures.[111] He was also inspired by The Movement for the Emancipation for Poetry, which employs guerilla tactics to anonymously post pieces of poetry in public places.[112]
As told to Vogue, "I feel that people are looking for emotion and dreams—but not distant dreams," Piccioli said before his ready-to-wear show. "I want to create a community for Valentino. I mean something different from 'lifestyle,' which is about owning objects. It's about people who share values."[111]
Piccioli also commissioned Robert Montgomery, Greta Bellamacina, Mustafa The Poet, and Yrsa Daley-Ward to contribute to an anthology of poems, Valentino on Love.[113]
The designer continued, "I started this collection thinking about poetry because poetry is similar to couture—it's something that can belong to both the past and to this time. You can find your own poetry through dress."[114]
The booklets of collected poems were left on each audience member's seat. One poem excerpt was displayed on an illuminated boardboard at the runway entrance, it read, "The people you love become ghosts inside of you and like this you keep them alive." Piccioli also selected lines to be printed or embroidered inside the linings of his designs.[111][115][116]
The designer incorporated statue prints and poetic verses to avoid a classically romantic translation only through florals with more alternate visuals. One mini dress was embroidered with the words "kiss me in this light while it still lasts," while another featured the words "I woke up and felt the night leaving. Desire looked strange in the light," and a black coat read "wrap me, free me, see me."[117][118]
As told to WWD, "I think of poetry as something that is still beautiful, but it can be contemporary as well," Piccioli said during a preview, "to keep the values of couture while being contemporary, and making the brand relevant today."[112]
Silhouettes included tunics, tulle dresses,[111] tailored overcoats,[116] hooded capes, and layered pantsuits.[119] Design details featured couture shapes like sloped shoulders, rounded backs, and floor-length skirts[115] as well as scalloped hems, and floral appliques.[119] The palette ranged from pink, yellow, orange, and scarlet to moss, grey, black, and white.[116]
"After the couture [show], I wanted to move away from safe territory. A change of silhouette," Piccioli explained during a preview with British Vogue, "I still want to keep the couture values in the house, but more daywear, more street, more inclusive."[117]
Anok Yai opened the runway presentation of 62 looks, while Fran Summers closed it.[120] Adut Akech, Kaia Gerber, Primrose Archer, Elibeidy Dani, Licett Morillo, Mariacarla Boscono, Vittoria Ceretti, Sara Grace Wallerstedt, and Yoon Young Bae also walked the show.[120]
La La Anthony, Harley Viera-Newton, Alexa Chung, Katherine Langford, Sofia Sanchez de Betak, Gaia Repossi Greta Bellamacina, Robert Montgomery, Liya Kebede, Sofia Carson, Janelle Monáe, Jeanne Damas, and Naomi Campbell were amongst the front row guests.[121]
