In a fashion industry oppressed by the concept of producing more and more collections, Valentino Pre-Fall 2016 designs posed a few questions to all those people willing to sit down and ponder about a few issues.
Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli included indeed in their Pre-Fall collection for the historical fashion house around 84 looks, a scary number of designs, especially when you consider that they showcased the garments in New York just one week earlier than their menswear and two weeks before their Haute Couture shows.
Presented in a temporary showroom in Andy Warhol's Factory, the collection was inspired by the late Italian designer Elio Fiorucci. Famous in Italy and beloved in fashion capitals all over the world, Fiorucci established in a way the "glocal" concept: he thought globally and acted as an antenna, capturing inspirations and styles from all over the world, then remixed them all together and brought them all in one "local" place, his store.
Cross-cultural was therefore the password to unlock the collection, a riot of influences and ideas that went from an East at times reminiscent of Kansai Yamamoto's brightly coloured pieces to a West in which images of the Chrysler Building recreated in metallic micro sequins on an evening gown lived next to tie-dye garments and cowboy shirts.
Japan lived in the embroideries of cherry blossoms, clouds, and birds at times recreated in quilted motifs, but also in the floral and bamboo prints on long-sleeved dresses, pajama sets, and pleated skirts.
A hairstyle at times reminiscent of Björk circa "Venus as a Boy" accompanied both the vividly coloured and the softly poetic looks. Fiorucci mixed and sold a bit of everything in his stores and so did Chiuri and Piccioli including silhouettes and materials, quite often with surprising results.
There was also a bit of something for all shapes and ages (well, as long as you can afford it…) and for all times of the day and night, from a tie-dye karate gi jacket and densely embroidered pieces (matched with shiny thigh-high red or turquoise patent boots) decorated with a Mt. Fuji erupting red, white, and blue fireworks to stars on a military camouflage jacket, hearts scattered on a romantic organza dress, dragons spitting fires on motorcycle jackets, embroidered black lace kimono gowns, and a classic pea coat decorated with a delicate floral appliqué, while herons flew on a skirt or on a leather coat and intarsia motifs of birds appeared on ombré blue and pink mink coats (there was a great emphasis on luxury outerwear).
As we highlighted in his obituary, Elio Fiorucci brought joy and happiness in fashion, something that is truly missing in the industry nowadays. This collection had the same playfulness Fiorucci tried to spread and in many ways Chiuri and Piccioli managed to recreate in their clothes the kind of surprise original Fiorucci shoppers would get while visiting the stores and spotting new products they deeply desired.
That said, there are some differences between Fiorucci and this collection: the former produced indeed pieces in a lower price range compared to Valentino. Though impeccable, this collection brings instead the fun and joyfulness of Fiorucci to the aristoi rather than the hoi polloi, while reshifting the attention to a key question – how many collections do you need to produce a year when you may manufacture just a selection of garments with all the embellishments and details you may want/need?
The Pre-Fall season is becoming an endless affair with presentations starting in December and continuing throughout January when the menswear shows start, yet in some cases brands seem to be able to summarise in such collections and in just a few pieces (well, that's not the case of this particular collection…) what consumers may desire.
As the climate has also dramatically changed, so that in Europe you get artict temperatures, floods and storms in the North and extremely warm winters with Spring temperatures in the South, you seriously wonder what's the point of having so many collections when you may just have one that could coherently comprise a variety of garments for all seasons.
In Valentino's case, Chiuri and Piccioli have also started merging for a while Haute Couture and ready-to-wear including in the latter garments made with techniques borrowed from the former. Now they seem to have taken the Pre-Fall season to another level having produced a collection that looks narratively engaging and more desirable than a ready-to-wear collection.
Will it be possible for Chiuri and Piccioli to keep up this creative rhythm? We will discover in just a few weeks' time if they genuinely have more cards up their sleeves.
In the meantime this collection should come with a warning: if you're a young designer who has just launched a Pre-Fall collection, avoid even trying to come up with so many refined looks, it is indeed almost practically impossible to produce couture-worthy embroideries in a Pre-Fall collection (well, unless you're Valentino and have the logistical and financial means to do so…).
Will other designers opt to produce more Pre-Fall than proper A/W looks or will we soon see consumers re-shifting their attention towards just one collection? Time, as it usually happens in these cases, will tell. But this Pre-Fall season has probably insinuated in the minds of many designers the possibility of destroying the fashion calendar with its useless divisions between men and womenswear as well and, if only some of them had the courage to do that, we may finally end up having fewer and more desirable pieces and a healthier fashion industry.
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