The Front Row

I would advise you to take a seat within a congenial atmosphere and make yourself a cup of coffee, for this collection of seventy eight outfits needs your utmost attention to be appreciated.

 

Every once in a while, I come across a collection that ignites the fire within my fashion filled body, not to say that, the other collections I write about are not as important to me, because each one fuels me immensely, this collection was just the closest I have felt to experiencing magic.

 

Established in 1960 by legendary fashion designer Valentino Garavani and his business partner Giancarlo Giammetti, Valentino continues to move its storied legacy forward with the design aesthetic of designers Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli. (Valentino 2015).

 

Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli’s stylistic approach is defined by their sense of contemporary nourished by contrasts and love for a mélange of visual, artistic and literary inputs synthesized in a vibrant and distinctive style. A fusion of styles and languages is the key to their method (Valentino 2015).

 

The Valentino Pre- Fall 2014 collection is motion art, omitting pure lines that protect and sculpt the wearer. The garments are clean, sharp and yet, for lack of a better word “Cuddly” as the collection is mainly designed in thick fabrics.

 

'Pre-fall' bridges the gap between the spring/summer and autumn/winter shows, hitting stores in May. Incase, like me you had no idea why the “pre” took its humble position next to the “fall”. Pre-fall and resort collections are also more commercial than the main collections (Telegraph 2010).

 

This collection is the perfect example of the cliché’ saying that “less is more”. In my opinion less is only more if you are an expert in the “less” category and if you have a masters in the meaning of “less”,because it can go horribly wrong.

 

 It isn’t just the nonchalant classic ease of the angles and curves, or even the palette black on black that draws me in, it’s the simplicity. If you have read my posts on Alexander McQueen’s 2001 collection titled “VOSS” you will understand my term of, the line. The line is a daunting and exhilarating location in any collection, it is the line between too much and too little, it is the cusp of greatness or failure, it is the difference between over analysing and winging it. The line is the hardest shape to connected with and keep in any collection.

 

Beginning with a pristine monochromatic palette, to the emerging pattern blocking, I merge deeper into the 78 outfits, I realise the feathers along with the motifs are repeated, giving each austere outfit an ounce of playful cheer. The fabric choice has to be my guilty pleasure, as dark chocolate is at midnight. It is tasteful and yet filled to the brim with a cheeky grin.

 

The feeling of imperishable space occupies my mind as I continue, it is as though concrete has been moulded into each shape, as the finish is unalloyed and the shape of each garment, is excruciatingly quintessential.

 

You find secret areas of beauty in the almost blank looking overall outfit, it has a way of pulling you in deeper and acknowledging the subtle design details that clasp the “line” firmly on the heading artisan perfection.

 

The shirt collar with a ribbon tied in a bow is the trademark of a Coco Chanel inspired garment, a sign of elegance.

 

Before studying fashion, this collection would probably not have had such a profound effect on me, I would not have been able to identify with the design aesthetics as I am able to do today. I am in awe of the fabric choices, and I can only hope that one day I can be a designer of this calibre, that I can perfect the line.

 

 

Reference list

Text

• Valentino (online). 2015. Available: http://www.style.com/fashion-shows/pre-fall-2014/valentino (Accessed 14th January 2015).

• Telegraph (online). 2015. Available: http://fashion.telegraph.co.uk/article/TMG8207498/What-are-the-pre-fall-and-resortcruise-collections.html (Accessed 14th January 2015)

Image

• Style.com (online). 2014. Available: http://www.style.com/fashion-shows/pre-fall-2014/valentino (Accessed 14th January 2015).