Valentino planning digital double header for couture in July

By

Godfrey Deeny

Published
Jun 29, 2020

The house of Valentino is planning a unique couture double header this July, a blend of physical and digital that will span two cities – Paris and Rome.

 
Adding to the novelty, the Roman maison’s creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli has called on photographer Nick Knight to oversee the digital elements of an actual live show, meant to be staged inside legendary film studios Cinecittà in Rome.
 
However, first at bat, the house will keep its traditional time slot during the upcoming Paris haute couture calendar. Due to the pandemic, it has been rescheduled as a purely digital season, taking place between July 6 and 8, in Paris, during when houses will show their Fall/Winter 2020-21 collections.

In Valentino’s case, at 6pm on Wednesday July 8, Piccioli will unveil “the inspiration of the exclusive Live Performance that will take place then in Rome on July 21st 2020 at Cinecittà Studios.”
 
The Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode, French fashion’s governing body, is planning to unveil a radically updated website which will host all the shows – including Valentino - on the Paris calendar starting next Monday.
 
The Valentino Creative Director has chosen Knight “in order to amplify human Haute Couture values through an idea where the maison mastery will be highlighted by the digital side,” the house said in a release.
 
“The project arises from an idea, that Pierpaolo Piccioli already had in mind before the pandemic, that merges the human and digital worlds creating a bond that is the legacy of the re-birth period we are experiencing. The limits that we are living need to be transcended through grace and lightness,” Valentino added.
 
Valentino is traditionally one of the key collections on the Paris couture calendar, under Piccioli’s direction. His use of volume, brilliant sense of color and his operative presentations within the Hotel Salomon de Rothschild have made the Valentino show a vital fashion appointment.

 
In Rome, Piccioli intends that the “live performance will bring together the human and the digital touch creating a dialogue where neither of them will take the lead. No digital effects can substitute the humanitas. The result will be the expression of the inner values of Couture: creativity, imagination and emotion.”
 
The Roman house added that the performance will be live on digital channels and that around a dozen Italian-based dozen fashion reviewers will be invited to the event in Rome, respecting current safety measures due to Covid-19.