Pierpaolo Piccioli’s solo tenure at Valentino has been marked by his masterful sense of balance. On the one hand, there is fantasy, best exemplified by his couture with its incredible volumes, craft and detail; on the other, a groundedness that ensures his clothes remain rooted in reality, never becoming costumes. His training might have been in grand couture salons, but Piccioli is essentially more inspired by the streets. And the word on the streets these days is inclusivity. At Piccioli’s Valentino, it’s not just a buzzword but a value threaded into his creative process and translated into designs that appeal to wide swathes of people, elevated by the savoir faire of the Valentino ateliers as well as Piccioli’s couturier eye and unmatched sense of colour. Lately, the designer has been engaging in a process he calls re-signifying, in which he takes archival Valentino pieces as well as cultural icons, and refreshes them with design tweaks and new contextualisation. For cruise 2022, he turned his eye to the classic basketball sneaker—updated here with punchy pops of lime and the addition of Roman Studs, a chunkier, cooler take on the brand’s signature Rockstud.
The Valentino Garavani One Stud sneakers are $1,290 and are available at Valentino, #01-08 ION Orchard (tel: 6509 8062).
