Two of couture’s most illustrious players, Valentino and Dolce & Gabbana, chose to debut their latest array of one-off designs off schedule this season to emphasise that they are each in leagues of their own. Each powerhouse Italian brand took their creations home for an excessively luxurious Fall 2015 extravaganza, relocating from Paris – the undisputed home of couture, yet a requisite which doesn’t entirely apply when a designer’s heritage boasts nothing but prestige.
Valentino Haute Couture Fall 2015
For Valentino, this meant a sightseeing tour of Rome like no other, with a bountiful parade of classic high fashion from the Valentino archives added to the itinerary. From the city’s Biblioteca Casanatense to a marble bath in a palazzo dating back to 1840, then a third-century AD Mithraic grotto discovered in the 1930s and finally painter Giorgio de Chirico’s apartment-turned-museum, the fashion pack were treated to a feast for the eyes.
This was followed by a presentation of their latest collection at the Piazza Mignanelli which saw sumptuous embellished numbers in la notte di Roma where moonlight black hues wafted onto the stage in gorgeous lengths of velvet and pleated lace, trimmed in gold. Dramatic additions such as capes were also a conspicuous trope and developing this more grandiose decision led Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli to go all asymmetrical and cut the body up with draped fabric.
Soon after a brief burst of Valentino red and lots of flouncy tulle the duo rounded up the collection with an overflow of golden embellishments that were practically byzantine in their classically regal and dignified display. This couture collection certainly showed that the Italians are a fashion empire which is not going to stop pulling its weight anytime soon, fortunately they still have a rich complex culture upon which to draw.
Dolce and Gabbana Alta Moda Fall 2015
Next it was Dolce and Gabbana’s turn to jet the fashion pack off to Portofino, the quaint Italian seaside town that also is an instantaneously fashionable choice of locale. In an altogether indulgently affected presentation, D&G’s latest Alta Moda collection went to some of the most fantastical extremes yet. Rolls of fox fur for summertime, elaborate crowns with feathers and flowers and finally gowns that came off somewhere in between Scarlett O’Hara’s infamous curtain dress and a cassata siciliana dessert all contributed to an ultimate decadence.
This mood did plenty to fuel the lingering impression that the likes of Stefano Gabbana and Domenico Dolce and many others have had quite enough of the industry’s overdone love-affair with normcore and a caution to the wind attitude in reaction to any economic woes is the way forward.
While it sometimes seems that couture as we have known it for decades now is getting more than a little stale on its Parisian home soil, both Valentino and D&G successfully revamped their offerings into something all their own this season. This is absolutely a proposal that we’d like to see initiated further in season to come.
by Liam Feltham
Images courtesy of Style.com