GIAMBATTISTA VALLI HAUTE COUTURE

For Haute Couture N°29, Monsieur Giambattista Valli invites us into a dreamscape of nymphs
and muses, where the bucolic meets the idyllic. A soft rebellion of silhouettes drawn from the
hush of a garden, from the echo of laughter by a lake, from the stolen reveries immortalized
by Watteau and Fragonard. In these tableaux, where girls linger under the dappled shade of
trees, lost in thought or dance, Mr. Valli recognises his eternal muses: the Valli Girls. It is all
about them.

Volume in this collection is not imposed, rather, it is conjured. Achieved solely through the generous, precise deployment of fabric, without any hard structures or boning, it is the fabric that breathes and leads, whispering its own story. It becomes both silhouette and storyteller, a living material in dialogue with the body. This is the art of the Atelier at its height, where draping, embroidery, dimensional florals, and volumes are sculpted by hand and instinct. Throughout the collection, shapes nod to the 18th century to Trianon, to fêtes galantes, to the “cape à la Polonaise” and the Watteau back, reimagined with airy irreverence. Draping wraps around the body like a second skin, cinching into bows, unfurling into languid, endless trains. Embroideries become “stuccos,” meticulously assembled from micro silk organza flowers, blossoming from sleeves and décolletés, as if carried there by the breeze. Decorations are never ornamental for ornament’s sake; they are material and organic, an integral part of the silhouette’s construction and movement. There is also an ongoing conversation between the bucolic spirit of the 18ème and the sculptural elegance of the 1950s, the Golden Age of Haute Couture, where silhouettes are both idealised and new, anchored in history yet spoken in the language of today.

A tension of opposites animates the collection: opulent volumes defying gravity with ethereal lightness. The iconic Valli tulle takes on a new quirk, an unexpected flirtation. Prints echo the technique of French pointillisme, like petals dispersed by time. Colours are fresh as sorbets lifting directly from the palettes of the painters of the era, infused with a powdered luminosity. Ivory surfaces pay homage to the toile, the primal stage of every Haute Couture gesture. In pursuit of this delicate equilibrium, Mr. Valli embarked on a profound research and dialogue with his Atelier on how to achieve the poids de la légèreté – the weight of lightness – a paradox that expresses the technical mastery required to make structure feel weightless and complexity appear effortless. This is a collection that celebrates matte purity- no gloss, no shine. A luminous quietude that lets every fold, every stitch, every whisper of fabric hold its place in the light. A fête for the senses. A living painting in motion. And, as always, an ode to beauty.