Kristen McMenamy sports the ultimate LBD at Valentino couture.
A quiet, sombre feeling of emotion and self-reflection pierced throughout Place Vendôme as Valentino showcased their couture collection in a salon-like environment, ushering the quiet sound of chiffon and sequins mixed with clacks of heels across the floors of the maison mixed in with ANOHNI’s soundtrack. As supermodel Kristen Mcmenamy emerged from the spiral staircase and opened the show in Pierpaolo Piccioli’s version of the little black dress, it was all about the celebration of the body – and the contemporary meaning we express with it.
A maestro of colour-blocking chartreuse with greens, experimenting with different shades of brown and cream, Piccioli’s couture acted as an extension of the body, both covering it like a sculpture of grandior with crinoline and ruffles shaping outwards into a train, and highlighting the beauty behind it by expressing nudity in a hedonistic way with black organza, ever so slightly caressing the body, giving it flow and motion.
Valentino’s intentions were to celebrate body and celebrate how contemporary notion of couture honours every curve and every type. The maison also wanted to bring together how intimate our relationship with bodies is, by giving an old-school, quiet and meditative presentation – in a similar notion how we explore ourselves at our most vulnerable.
There is something very quietly poetic about Pierpaolo and his relationship with colour and shape, there is a feeling of pure genuineness, letting the clothes speak and draw unique narratives within our interpretation of them. There is an exploration of emotion, of bittersweet love, of vulnerability and power that you can’t help but reflect upon your own experiences in life. The highest accolade that couture can achieve is when the audience reflects upon themselves after a show – and this is exactly what occurred at Valentino, a reflection upon the beauty and power of our individual bodies, and how important slow self-nurture is in a chaotically fast world.
