I'm turning this into a series, so Fridays from now on will be 'fashion fridays'. I hope you're okay with that. (Those of you not interested in fashion can simply avoid my blog on Fridays.
wink) Today I'm showing you a few details from the
Valentino Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2012 Collection, designed by Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli, who described the collection as "pervaded by a desire to return to a real, more intimate dimension of life and style."
This show definitely felt different.
In his
review for
Vogue US, Hamish Bowles noted: "In their own soft-spoken way this design duo have been able to
take Valentino’s uniquely feminine ideal, remove some of his va-va-voom,
but gently refashion it to create a unique and compellingly modern
glamour that is all their own."
I couldn't have said it better. Well I probably would have phrased it: "remove [a lot] of his va-va-voom". For me this show felt very down to earth, which probably has something to do with seeing heeled pumps and lace slippers instead of high heels on a sisal/seagrass runway.
Bowles also noted: "The program also revealed that 1,000 hours of labor, for instance,
went into the handwork on the
opening dress of elaborately smocked organza; 1,250 hours into the sparkling silver embroidery on a chine taffeta redingote based on an eighteenth-century version; and 800 hours
just to weave the warp-print faille for one of those ball dresses. These breathtaking figures reveal just what makes the haute couture so special—but it is the hands of Valentino’s skilled Roman atelier staff that really spin magic into material that is, of course, far from base, and bring the Chiuri and Piccioli vision so beautifully to life. "
Have a fabulous Friday!
photo credit: