“It’s about how Valentino can become a relevant brand for today’s generation. I want to get out of this exclusivity and to be more inclusive,” explains the Maison creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli, “I really want couture to be alive. You can’t keep it to the red carpet.” The meeting of a couture house and the street is bringing a different type of energy to the luxury fashion space. Some old-guard fashion industry gatekeepers and other designers see this as just a trend and even going as far to say, “We need a new outline, a new shape and there are too many hoodies with prints out there. Something needs to shift,” designer Raf Simons attested.
Diversity is good for business and inclusiveness is a fair exchange of power. With Virgil Abloh appearing at Louis Vuitton, Dapper Dan at Gucci and Kim Jones at Christian Dior menswear – this “trend” is having a positive effect on luxury brands via the “street” introducing a new generation of consumers – millennials and Generation Z make up luxury’s demographic sweet spot. Piccioli took a bootleg approach similar to what Dapper Dan did with Gucci back in the day he took Valentino’s ’70s and ’80s scarf prints and overlaying them on classic fabrics, including the camouflage print. “It’s not about designing, it’s not about creating fashion as we used to think about fashion, but they have a sort of relationship which is more spontaneous,” Piccioli stated.
Melo, Syd, James, PJ, Jaylen, Serge, Ferg, Nas, Keith & I. Thank you guys for being there. @carmeloanthony @syd @jharden13 @pjtheking @sergeibaka @asapferg @nas @chrt_keithape
1,171 Likes, 20 Comments – Pierpaolo Piccioli (@pppiccioli) on Instagram: “Melo, Syd, James, PJ, Jaylen, Serge, Ferg, Nas, Keith & I. Thank you guys for being there….”
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