Valentino and Saint Laurent shows, Lady Kitty Spencer’s wedding in Dolce & Gabbana, Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom – why this has been Italy’s summer, in fashion at least

Venice never loses its capacity to enchant. Speeding through the glittering canals on a Riva boat – past the dome of San Simeon Piccolo and towards St Mark’s Square and the Doge’s Palace – it can feel, briefly and intoxicatingly, as if the last 18 months never existed.

In July, the fashion crowd breathed a collective sigh of relief when they stepped off their planes and trains and onto the boats and gondolas of Italy’s most beautiful city. They were there for the Valentino couture show, which was held in the magical watery setting of the Gaggiandre, a shipyard built in the mid-1500s.

The choice of Venice – rather than Paris, where Valentino has long set the couture collections – felt symbolic. The show took place at sunset, with the mountains in the distance and the still, glassy water in the foreground, a sign that after the claustrophobia of the past year, the future was all about freedom and creativity.

A week later, the menswear editors and buyers, as well as model Hailey Bieber, descended on the city and were treated to a pod of dolphins gambolling in the lagoon, empty-but-for-locals piazzas, and a clever, creative collection by Anthony Vaccarello for Saint Laurent – another Parisian brand that eschewed the French capital for the floating city.