Giambattista Valli Pre-Fall 2024

Black and white at Giambattista Valli? And no reference to the jet-setting lifestyle of his fabulous muses? What’s happened? Zooming from his studio in Paris while prepping for next week’s couture show, he conceded that he felt the pull of urban life and of being present in the here and now, explaining that he has been intrigued by the black-and-white charcoal drawings of artist Robert Longo’s Men in the Cities, which depict with stunning photographic precision humans in motion, caught in gestures of falling, walking, or running, as if propelled by a rhapsodic, unrelenting energy.

Gestures and movement were what pushed Valli to express a spirit of dynamism in a sleek pre-fall collection, intended for the intense rhythm of city living. It focused on slender, elongated lines for short day dresses that can easily transition into cocktail options, slim ankle-grazing coats, and cropped suits in feminine proportions. Yet “everything is dedicated to the comfort of the gesture,” he said. “In every dress or jacket there’s a space carefully conceived to provide freedom of movement and ease.”

The collection’s feel was young with an upbeat sense of lightness and subtle hints at the 1960s, “like the look in some of Antonioni’s movies.” But Valli will never be a stark purist, as his sensuous Roman background always looms large, as well as his flair for Parisian chic and romance. Evening numbers were ethereal, flowing concoctions of intricate embroidery, Chantilly lace, and sequins, or printed with abstract florals and leopard spots.

His “flower obsession” got the better of him in the “Ribbon Bouquets,” an extravagant 3D appliqué made of thin organza strips embroidered on a pale pink tulle base. What Valli’s delicate creations seemed to express was a longing for comforting, embracing, tender gestures. “Lightness of spirit is something you achieve,” he said, brushing aside the idea that the feeling is synonymous with frivolity or coquetting. “There’s definitely a weight to lightness.”