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Church ain’t out till they quit singing, and for Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli, there seems to be no limits to what they can do with the virginal and alluring psalm they’ve created at Valentino. With Tuesday’s show, they took their austere convent-like aesthetic to new breathtaking heights with a collection inspired by the painters of the Dutch Golden Age. The prim little A-line dresses and their white embroidered collars, which opened the show, were only a foreshadowing of the embroidery spectacular that followed throughout the collection, until the heavily (and heavenly) embroidered floor-length gowns that epitomise this Valentino era drew the show to an epic close. Whenever a religious reference enters the fashion picture, a show automatically takes on a ceremonial and somewhat hallowed spirit, and – next to Ann Demeulemeester – no one does that better than Chiuri and Piccioli. For autumn/winter 13, you can put your trust in God and Valentino.
Text: Anders Christian Madsen
Photography: Mitchell Sams
