The fashion industry loves a pigeonhole: hipster, bohemian, Goth, sportsman, dandy.
Big as a billboard, the inspiration images backstage at Valentino showed a span of style tribes across multiple decades and continents, complete with maverick figures such as Jack Kerouac and Pier Paolo Pasolini, plus the “pearlies” in 19th-century England who went to town decorating their clothes with buttons to boost charitable donations.
“This collection is about the freedom to look for your own way,” said Pierpaolo Piccioli, co-creative director with Maria Grazia Chiuri, who echoed the importance of individuality this season. “We want the man to choose and use the piece in his own way,” Chiuri said.
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Oh my, what choice — as long as you’re a modernist with a decorative streak, or headed to Coachella. The show opened with long, austere black double-face coats, announcing the lean, cylindrical silhouette seen across the collection, contrary to the loose shapes that dominated Milan.
The dress coats were impressive: navy ones with ghostly military patches and camel numbers needle-punched with Loden to tip the sleeves and hems.
The clothes became more embellished as the show progressed, studs and crystals scattered across the shoulders of herringbone coats and leather bombers. The punk touches were sly: a thick throat latch in black leather on a checkered mohair blouson, or metal studs flashing from the edges of a beige trench, or the outsoles of cherry brogues.
Then the show exploded into full-on retro psychedelia, with Navaho and tie-dye patterns adorning ponchos, cowboy shirts and field jackets.
Exiting the venue side-by-side were two men dressed in the same printed coat from a previous season, along with wine colored pants. Naturally, photo bloggers spotted these two individuals immediately.