Body, movement, beauty. Time as a value to explore and as a horizon on which to flutter. Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli imagine a collection with a lyrical touch, for the Valentino Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2016

Convinced that Haute Couture must live beyond the syncopated rhythms of fashion, they start from the body as a source of formal research which creates a subtle and individual beauty. The woman is the protagonist of the narration. Free in her gestures and in her thoughts.

In this journey the Creative Directors look at the figure of Mariano Fortuny: the artist on the borderline between Eastern Byzantine and Western Classic. In a composite yet natural choreography, Fortuny is surrounded by a crystalized gallery of characters: ballerinas Loïe Fuller and Ruth St. Denis, but also Isadore Duncan and later Martha Graham. From the reconquest of the body established by these artists, Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli capture the absolute, sensational modernity: the desire to knock down structures and cultural obstacles for a return to nature.

The collection has a vertical and airy approach. Worldliness thickens on the surfaces: tattered touches on velvets, pleats exclusively handmade as if ready to melt away, patchwork composed of opulent weaving, animals and hand-painted volutes. The tactile richness derives from a collaboration with the textile archive Fortuny.

Purified orientalism becomes precious Byzantine or explicit japonisme in kimono style coats, in carps and dragon patterns painted on long robes. The shapes are fluid, consistencies are impalpable: overlapping tunics, pleated velvet delphos, column dresses with intangible consistency.

A patina made of a human and touching imperfection pervades all, in a harmony of delicate colours that thicken in tones of green, red, all the way to black. The ethereal image is spangled with statement jewelry by Alessandro Gaggio and Harumi Klossowski.

All images courtesy of Valentino.
To see the entire collection please visit: www.valentino.com