Maison Valentino Haute Couture Spring 2018 Review

"Exactly a week after his Valentino Fall 2018 Menswear show, Pierpaolo Piccioli was back on the runway this evening for Couture. The show opened with a floor-sweeping saffron evening coat and a truly spellbinding headpiece made of turquoise feathers, one of several Philip Treacy–designed headpieces in the show. Some were feathered, while others mimicked leaves and flowers blooming around the models’ heads, and all of them came in a vibrant jewel tone to complement the richly colored clothes: mint with aquamarine; deep red with lime; neon pink with blush. “When thinking about the hats for the collection, I envisioned this ethereal yet very powerful woman,” Treacy explained in the show notes. “She is almost like a celestial image, and the feathers are thought out to give a weightless effect that follows behind her and underlines the dichotomy between concealing and revealing.” The notion of powerful clothing has been a major talking point at the couture shows; at Chanel, it came in the form of a bridal tuxedo, and, at Dior, it was in the nods to the Surrealist artist Leonor Fini. Piccioli’s take included several items you don’t often see on a couture runway: chinos, trenchcoats, and even a sweatshirt. He called it “a haute couture of present times”—i.e., for busy women who aren’t just attending galas and balls. But there were plenty of strictly gorgeous couture-isms, too: tons of feathers, opera-length gloves, voluminous taffeta gowns, ruffles, bows, and stunning hand-embellish