Pierpaolo Piccioli’s Solo Debut at Valentino Was Heavy on the Romance

After decades of designing together, making them the stuff of legend at Valentino, Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli both stepped out on their own this weekend at Paris Fashion Week, showing their first solo collections for the houses of Dior and Valentino, respectively. But, left to his own devices, Piccioli stuck with the house’s usual high romance for spring 2017: Magentas, fuchsias, and plenty of other pinks mingled with the usual Valentino red in characteristically flowing silhouettes, which had an old-world elegance not just because of Piccioli’s inspirations – Giotto and even Gutenberg’s printing press – but because of the teensy purses serving as accents, too small even for iPhones to fit in. There was intricate embroidery of the sort Chiuri showed at Dior, too, which no doubt caught the designer’s eye: She sat front row, next to another beloved name who’s stepped out on his own, Alber Elbaz.