Giambattista Valli Debuts Haute Couture

The Fall Haute Couture shows last month in Paris flew by and I still have yet to say a word about them. Haute couture has recently been called into question in terms of relevance. In response, Alex Fury wrote a fantastic piece about its significant role in fashion today. Another voice bent on asserting haute couture's importance is Giambattista Valli. In the face of doubt and pessimism, Valli debuted a couture collection that provides hope and perhaps a new direction for the tradition of haute couture.

Valli has a cult of young wealthy girls who are devoted to supporting his ready-to-wear business, so it should come to no surprise that his couture debut is quite youthful. In the haute couture business though, youth are not typically the clients of couturiers. Thus the frequency of shorter hemlines and the exuberance in this collection mark a turn for haute couture.

In typical Valli fashion, expressly decorated elements stood in contrast with more classic, streamlined elements, as in look 32. Between the fabulous use of coral, the feathers, the leopard print, and the dramatic capes, Valli has created a highly iconic collection that capitalized on unabashed glamour. He has not strayed from his DNA—something of great importance in couture—but he's challenged himself and proved what he can do with an atelier.


Hanaa Ben Abdesslem

Aymeline Valade

Tati Cotliar

Hanna Sorheim

Sasha Pivovarova

Hailey Clauson

Kinga Rajzak

Ajak Deng

Nyasha Matonhodze

Aymeline Valade

Caroline Brasch Nielsen

Jac

Jacquelyn Jablonski

Sasha Pivovarova

Elena Todorchuk

Joan Smalls

Ruby Aldridge


Photos via style.com