Nobody embodies the journey towards a new masculinity in fashion better than the designer for the house of Valentino himself. When Pier Paolo Piccioli first took over, he used to come out and take his bow in his bespoke Roman tailored suits. Sure, he was always a bit quirky and had them made entirely from indigo denim on occasion wearing a white shirt and skinny black tie. But over the years, the suits have gone, the dress shoes with it and replaced by sneakers, loose fitting jeans and T-shirts always in black and a colorful charm necklace around his neck looking like he just landed on Hawaii.
Laid-back Pier Paolo Piccioli taking his bow after his Valentino Men’s S/S 2024 show
This laid-back look is also very much at the core of his men’s collections now. Yes, there is tailoring in pure cottons and drill weaves, but the jackets are worn with shorts. And that’s the way it is now at this house which is the most obvious of the big classic Haute Couture houses undergoing a radical rejuvenation process where even star writer and T Magazine editor Hana Yanagihara’s book ”A Little Life“ served as show invitation and multiple quotes from the book were used as slogans on the garments. The show location was a courtyard at Università degli Studi and Valentino will donate money to support scholarships there. The show set featured a live performance by 18-year-old David Anthony Burke who goes by the artist’s name d4vd and who has a busy European fashion tour having attended the Saint Laurent show in Berlin last Monday.
Valentino men’s S/S 2024 collection held in a courtyard at Università degli Studi in Milan
From PPP to the runway?
While unpacking formality and eschewing ties himself, Piccioli is stamping the black skinny tie and white shirt look on his runways in 2023. Worn with his loosely cut jackets and the shorts it looks fresh.
Black skinny tie and white shirting in many variants
Only Valentino can?
Use a long-stemmed flower as a decorative motif and not look daffy. Many of the bags featured this floral element and it was even used as piping on the work wear jackets closures.
Long stemmed flower motifs throughout the collection
Flower motif used in piping
What went wrong?
Why on earth do men’s shows need hair and makeup? The slicked back in the middle and straight on the sides hair looked a bit daft under the glaring sun light and took away from the concise new image of masculinity.
Heavy slick on the hair
