At its very core haute couture is powered by one all-encompassing emotion — love. Designers create their one-of-a-kind garments because they love craftsmanship, beauty, creativity and challenging themselves.
All of those things could be seen in the spring/summer 2015 collection that designers Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli created for Valentino. It was felt in each stitched line of poetry woven into the skirt of an evening dress, every pair of angel wings sculpted out of fabric to create the sleeves, back or bodice of a dress, and in all the multifaceted highly embellished lace gowns that became more stunningly complex the closer they drew near.
This season the duo leaned on their more monastic inclinations. The numerous high-necked dresses worn by models with their hair woven through with wild flowers and pulled up in a halo around their heads looked virginal. Especially when the clothing was covered in Russian-inspired naïve embroideries and featured smocking waistlines or bustier peasant tops.
The show's styling might have made this collection look somewhat historical. Except for a pair of velvet dresses, which simply looked timeless. But it was still easy to imagine a modern woman — with the right clutch, shoes and blowout — making any of these dresses the talk of the party.
By the time the designer duo took their bow, it was the audience that had fallen deeply, completely and madly in love with this glorious collection.
