Valentino’s Colorful, Cool World of Haute Couture

At the runway show for Valentino’s spring 2024 couture collection dubbed “Le Salon,” models glided down a purple spiral staircase in the brand’s Place Vendôme atelier wearing a sea of colorful gowns, suits, and separates for all genders. Creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli has, on occasion, been known to focus on a range of bright hues—for this collection, he really took that concept to heart. Every color of the rainbow was illuminated and refracted through the couture prism he’d created.

There were draped and slinky turquoise dresses, rose-red capes, topaz blazers, saffron shirts, mandarin dresses, mustard-yellow coats, kelly green off-the-shoulder tops, and a frenzy of textures brought to life by the couturiers’ techniques and embellishments. Take, for example, glitter tops and skirts made of tinsel, black puffy rosebud coats, and silver sequin tops.

The collection was deeply Pierpaolo Piccioli-coded at its core. The beauty of reliability certainly isn’t a drawback. Dramatic, Piccioli-ian silhouettes seemed to float down the aisles between the well-heeled friends of the brand and A-listers including Kylie Jenner, her daughter Stormi Webster, and Jennifer Lopez. Big bubble-hem ballroom skirts were rendered in bold blues; longline vests served as both outerwear and statement pieces. Jackets with massive pockets and fluffy feather-trimmed dresses were attention-getters, even by Valentino Couture’s standards. Feather trims turned to hoods and opera gloves became an extension of structured strapless dresses.

Craft was the main theme of the collection; it was the first time Valentino opted to show inside its Paris couture salon. Because of that, Piccioli didn’t shy away from any type of silhouette or shape: enormous, boxy parka coats; sheer black button-down shirts; or blazer and short sets—take your pick. Sheer little nothings of black lace gowns closed the show. In the couture world, where eveningwear reigns supreme, this collection offered up a practical dose of reality with pieces that could be worn day-to-day.

Accessories and styling sealed the deal to make the collection feel more individualistic and personal. Among those many accessories were metallic belts, opera gloves, gold cuffs, and larger-than-life earrings that felt cool and at home in a couture collection. Consider it casual meets formal in the form of colorful couture.