“I Wanted To Portray A Generation”: Pierpaolo Piccioli On His Valentino Show In Milan

Some of the most shared stories on social media this year have been pictures of nature claiming back its rightful space amid a lockdown that put a temporary stop to our everyday pollution machine. Seeing clear water and luxuriant leaves where you’ve never seen them before looked sensational; almost radical. You had to click on it. For the spring/summer 2021 Valentino show he relocated from Paris to Milan, Pierpaolo Piccioli took out an old foundry and filled it with greenery. It had the same effect. When the mind becomes immune to traditional images of the radical – metal, concrete, face masks, explosions, corrupt politicians – the sweetest things suddenly seem revolutionary. That was the spirit of his collection.

“I wanted to give a different perspective to Valentino’s codes of romanticism: ruffles, lace, lightness. I wanted to talk about what that means today,” Piccioli said. His answer was to be found within the folds of the garments he presented on his industrial runway: pretty lace, silks and chiffons styled on a multi-faceted cast that included members of subcultural movements classically associated with the radical. Romanticism today, Piccioli declared, means “individuality, different cultures, and expressing opinions. It means humanity.”

He employed his whimsical Valentino-centric materials in co-ed daywear that leant towards the utilitarian: oversized lace shirts, minimal rompers, netted pencil skirts and workman’s suits. The rockstud he premiered 10 years ago made a comeback, blown up on bags and shoes, and went hand-in-hand with a denim collaboration with Levi’s. Then, like the barren walls of his factory setting, Piccioli let nature claim his garments. Explosive floral prints covered magnified tunics, floral appliqué climbed up a translucent dress as if it were going to overgrow the model’s body, and evening gowns in crochet and plissé were allowed to manifest in deep tree-trunk browns.

“My job is to deliver a new picture of the landscape you already know. These months made me more radical about my choices, what I believe in and what I have to express,” he said. “I wanted to portray a generation.” If he did, it was the youth whose lives will be forever shaped by the events of 2020: the limitation and the destruction but also the chance to make it all better; change the future. Singing a beautiful live set was Labrinth, who created the soundtrack for Euphoria – the series that has become a symbol of that youth. “You can be strong and powerful even if you’re super romantic and vulnerable and show your fragility,” Piccioli said, perfectly summing up those new generations’ understanding of what it means to be radical.