This collection is about inspiration by the works of Pre-Raphaelite painters and poets, and building them into a new fantasy, from the delicately cross-laced Roman sandals up.
The clever combination of romance and relevance that is coming out of Valentino these days seems completely instinctive and unforced. On the one hand, there’s a grounded sense of how young women want to dress (it’s pretty handy that Chiuri has her eighteen-year-old daughter Rachele for reality checks) and on the other, there are the superb technical abilities which put the house in the category of up-there-on-clouds excellence. That sensible sensibility has already brought the long, lace Renaissance-inspired dress to fashion. It continues for fall with breathtakingly complex silver beaded embroidery, trailing in layers, and wondrous gilded gowns with tabard bodices.
