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Paris Fashion Week 2022: Why did Valentino go so pink crazy? Pierpaolo Piccioli’s shocking new autumn/winter ready-to-wear collection has a simple statement to make

STORYAssociated Press
Models wear creations as part of the Valentino ready-to-wear autumn/winter 2022-2023 fashion collection, unveiled during Paris Fashion Week. Photo: Invision/AP

It was “La Vie en Rose” for Valentino, who headlined Sunday’s segment of Paris Fashion Week with a daring yet triumphant pink collection. Meanwhile VIP guests including Lewis Hamilton and Zendaya had to negotiate A-list arrivals without their luxury wheels, during a car-free day in the capital’s centre.

Valentino got “pretty in pink” with its bold new autumn/winter 2022 ready-to-wear collection, unveiled at Paris Fashion Week on March 6. Photo: Xinhua

All-encompassing pink decor sprawled across Le Carreau du Temple in Le Marais, bathed peach in sections by the Parisian spring sun.

This was a Valentino collection like no other – where most of the exhaustive, often-minimalist, 81 looks were delivered in shocking pink.

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Valentino got “pretty in pink” with its bold new autumn/winter 2022 ready-to-wear collection, unveiled at Paris Fashion Week on March 6. Photo: Reuters
Valentino got “pretty in pink” with its bold new autumn/winter 2022 ready-to-wear collection, unveiled at Paris Fashion Week on March 6. Photo: Invision/AP

It was certainly a bold choice for designer Pierpaolo Piccioli, given the potential for the ready-to-wear styles to appear repetitive.

Yet it was deftly handled. Scallop details in shoulders came on loose silhouettes with swag and generous proportions, glowing pink above chunky 70s platforms. A minimalist tulip-shaped skirt was surreally stiff and angular, while a soft tuxedo jacket was so oversized that its shoulders fell from the model’s own in chic segments.

Valentino got “pretty in pink” with its bold new autumn/winter 2022 ready-to-wear collection, unveiled at Paris Fashion Week on March 6. Photo: Reuters
Valentino got “pretty in pink” with its bold new autumn/winter 2022 ready-to-wear collection, unveiled at Paris Fashion Week on March 6. Photo: Reuters

And just as the pink began to feel endless, the master Italian couturier switched to a brooding black palette – as if to say that there is a shadowy underbelly of all things sweet – an effective contrast, showing his design control.

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Valentino got “pretty in pink” with its bold new autumn/winter 2022 ready-to-wear collection, unveiled at Paris Fashion Week on March 6. Photo: Invision/AP
Valentino got “pretty in pink” with its bold new autumn/winter 2022 ready-to-wear collection, unveiled at Paris Fashion Week on March 6. Photo: Invision/AP
Lewis Hamilton and Pierpaolo Piccioli, who is wearing a ribbon in support of Ukraine, pose for photographers after the Valentino show at fashion week in Paris. Photo: Invision/AP
Zendaya and Pierpaolo Piccioli at Valentino’s autumn/winter 2022 ready-to-wear collection show, at Paris Fashion Week on March 6. Photo: Invision/AP

Piccioli was trying to show that by taking away colour, or attention to colour, eyes can be drawn toward form and silhouette alone.

In short: it was a triumph.

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Paris Fashion Week
  • Lewis Hamilton and Zendaya were among the celebrities who managed to navigate to Le Carreau du Temple in Le Marais on a car-free day in Paris
  • By casting nearly all of the collection’s 81 looks in shocking pink, designer Pierpaolo Piccioli was drawing our attention to what really counts: the form and silhouette