Valentino resort is a visual explosion in New York

By

Gabriella Lacombe

Published
May 23, 2019

Valentino's creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli took viewers on a Roman holiday for the Italian house's Resort 2020 presentation on Wednesday night, held inside New York University’s James B. Duke House.

Piccioli, a native Roman himself, took Italy to the iconic East 78th Street location --a former 20th century mansion that now houses the New York University Institute of Fine Arts and has been used to show previous pre-collections from Piccioli’s Valentino.

Eschewing a typical runway, Valentino's open-floor presentation was staged throughout the mansion’s first floor amid towers of colorful flowers. The looks were heavy in elegant embroidery, sequins and feathers. And, like Valentino’s Resort 2019 collection, references to the 1970s abounded, including floppy wide brimmed hats, headscarves and colorful graphic prints.

Looks also featured large animal prints: from cheetah print and zebra stripes that were splashed across boots and bags; to a black-and-white giraffe spot ensemble with matching headscarf and bag.

Apropos of the Met’s latest costume exhibition, many looks veered toward 'camp' in a collection where boldness was not in short supply. Alongside a variety of different ‘V’ prints and jeweled snake-shaped baubles, the presentation also conjured scenes of a socialite villa party in Italy. 

This past April, Valentino’s chief executive officer Stefano Sassi said the house’s forward-thinking goal is to translate its haute-couture roots into fashion that appeals to a digitally-focused, trend-loving modern consumer base – a strategy reflected by the assortment of bohemian yet contemporary clothes in this year’s resort collection.