In the perceptive eyes of Pierpaolo Piccioli, haute couture’s one-of-a-kind premise makes it fashion’s most powerful symbol of diversity and singularity. When he decided to stage his Valentino Des Ateliers show in the Giggiandre space at the Venice Biennale, where manmade structures harmonise with the lagoon, it was a metaphor for the relationship between fashion and art. “Venice was the natural environment for this conversation,” he said during a preview in Paris a week before the show, noting how the Floating City co-exists in dialogue with the natural elements. Curated by Gianluigi Ricuperati, Piccioli invited 17 artists to connect with him through the language of haute couture, allowing their works to be interpreted in the shape of fashion. Listening was key: “It was my need to feel people; to create a connection,” he said. “I wanted to create a conversation between points of view. When you create a community, you share values first.”
The show took place in the Biennale
Guests were sailed to the Giggiandre, currently home to Olmo, the Giuseppe Penone installation which encourages spectators to listen to the environment. Observing an all-white dress code, we were met by our own vision of community, which – under Venice’s pink evening sky, and all that beauty considered – felt a bit like a spiritual meeting. Piccioli’s creations glided across white platoons from one basin to the other, his couture volumes freely expanding and decreasing from orb shapes to magnified shirts, majestic cape structures and slight mini dresses, soft plumed hats bouncing like jellyfish. You could hear the rustling of ruffled taffeta, the sighs of crinolines brushing against the runway, the singing of dresses made entirely from dyed glass beads. Among them were Piccioli’s artist exchanges: sudden trippy hits of exoticism illuminated through the Valentino lens. Within them, he expanded his own grammar and intensified his form language, palette and motifs in ways that challenged your perception as a spectator.
Guests were sailed to the Giggiandre, currently home to Olmo, the Giuseppe Penone installation which encourages spectators to listen to the environment. Observing an all-white dress code, we were met by our own vision of community, which – under Venice’s pink evening sky, and all that beauty considered – felt a bit like a spiritual meeting. Piccioli’s creations glided across white platoons from one basin to the other, his couture volumes freely expanding and decreasing from orb shapes to magnified shirts, majestic cape structures and slight mini dresses, soft plumed hats bouncing like jellyfish. You could hear the rustling of ruffled taffeta, the sighs of crinolines brushing against the runway, the singing of dresses made entirely from dyed glass beads. Among them were Piccioli’s artist exchanges: sudden trippy hits of exoticism illuminated through the Valentino lens. Within them, he expanded his own grammar and intensified his form language, palette and motifs in ways that challenged your perception as a spectator.
Looks interpreted the works of artists
Piccioli approached his work with each artist differently. Communicating over video calls, he listened to them, got to know them, and determined how to express their voices in dressmaking. The red brushstrokes of Jamie Nares’s painting HBlues in Red were interpreted in a gown created from painstaking hand-crafted intarsia, each coloured piece inserted individually to create the three-dimensional effect of the original work. Piccioli embodied an untitled work by Alessandro Teoldi, who creates art from recycled materials, in a dress collaged entirely from Valentino Red fabric fragments found in his couture ateliers. He asked Benni Bosetto to draw on the paper patterns of the dress devoted to one of her works, only to translate her lines through meticulous decorative needlework. And he evoked the oil painting of Kerstin Brätsch in a hyper-textured anorak and deconstructed skirt ensemble, which was like a shot of energy to the optics.
Piccioli approached his work with each artist differently. Communicating over video calls, he listened to them, got to know them, and determined how to express their voices in dressmaking. The red brushstrokes of Jamie Nares’s painting HBlues in Red were interpreted in a gown created from painstaking hand-crafted intarsia, each coloured piece inserted individually to create the three-dimensional effect of the original work. Piccioli embodied an untitled work by Alessandro Teoldi, who creates art from recycled materials, in a dress collaged entirely from Valentino Red fabric fragments found in his couture ateliers. He asked Benni Bosetto to draw on the paper patterns of the dress devoted to one of her works, only to translate her lines through meticulous decorative needlework. And he evoked the oil painting of Kerstin Brätsch in a hyper-textured anorak and deconstructed skirt ensemble, which was like a shot of energy to the optics.
This wasn’t another “artist collab”
In a fashion climate where the term “haute couture” is used more casually than in the past, Piccioli’s work both hails the old craft’s original values and pushes its relevance into the future. At its core, couture is not about supermodels, ballgowns and Instagram moments, but about evolving the technical and philosophical possibilities of fashion. Doing justice to the work of third-party artists is a much greater challenge than sticking a piece of artwork on a jumper. It takes mind-blowing artisanal expertise and, above all, experimentation. “The real link was creativity,” Piccioli said. “I didn’t want to do the couture version of the museum T-shirt. You start by creating three-dimensionality and movement, because that’s what fashion is for; not just placing a work on top of things.” His Venice collection didn’t try to inject the language of fashion with art, but instead develop the voice of fashion through that of art. And there’s a big difference between the two. It was an eye-opening demonstration of the role haute couture can serve in fashion – and beyond – if it’s used in a profound way.
The show embodied what couture means today
There was a powerful symbiosis between Piccioli’s choice of location, his artist exchanges, and the respect he demonstrates for the craft of haute couture. In the tradition of Kipling, the discussion of what defines art is as eternal as it is aimless. Quoting Kant – “Art is purposiveness without purpose” – Piccioli argued that fashion, due to its functional premise, is not the same as art. And yet, a collection like this, conceived to inspire ideas of community, connectivity and unity-through-diversity, and impact technical and artisanal ways of expression, wasn’t far removed from the bases of art. “I want to use my voice as a designer; stand for something,” Piccioli said. “I use my passion as a language.”
There was a powerful symbiosis between Piccioli’s choice of location, his artist exchanges, and the respect he demonstrates for the craft of haute couture. In the tradition of Kipling, the discussion of what defines art is as eternal as it is aimless. Quoting Kant – “Art is purposiveness without purpose” – Piccioli argued that fashion, due to its functional premise, is not the same as art. And yet, a collection like this, conceived to inspire ideas of community, connectivity and unity-through-diversity, and impact technical and artisanal ways of expression, wasn’t far removed from the bases of art. “I want to use my voice as a designer; stand for something,” Piccioli said. “I use my passion as a language.”
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