2009 Valentino

Though using plenty of of the house’s codes like lace, semi-sheer & lingerie as luxury, Valentino’s joint creative directors Maria Grazia Chiuri & Pier Paolo Piccioli took a bold step in establishing their own aesthetic for this famed label.

Paris – Poetry was an apt way to explain the fall 2009 runway show from the house of Valentino, an elegant visual dissertation on the art of haute couture on Wednesday, July 8, in Paris.

Moreover, they also broke new ground with the color palette – banished from their catwalk was the signature sinful red for which Valentino was famed. Even the fabric roses were all black, or muddiest brown.

Where their debut outing was restrained, much homage to the house’s traditions, this time Chiuri & Piccioli took a lot more chances & their gutsy performance worked.

Ruffled, layered & semi-sheer shirts & minis, asymmetrical cocktails with twisting floral patterns, Bird of Paradise patchwork rouched chiffon skirts & suggestive transparent blouses all looked great.

But their best ideas were the raciest, such as a pulse-quickening strapless bustier cocktail in tulle worn by model Anna Selezneva.

Paris has been a season when plenty of couturiers have generally re-interpreted their own canon. Not Chiuri & Piccioli, who tried out some audacious new concepts, including way-over-the-top booties with giant leather back fins or some faintly absurd balloon ball gowns in weird sculpted shapes.

The duo also have a subtle sense of how to stage their own collections, reinforcing the after-midnight romantic mood with giant screens on which were projected smoke whirls.

Chiuri & Piccioli, initially suspected by plenty of critics of being accessories designers promoted above their station, turn out to have the design chops for couture. This pair appears to have real staying power.