Valentino is an Italian fashion house founded in 1960 by Valentino Garavani. Valentino's rise to fame came in 1962 due to the high profile clientele interested in his couture. Just to name a few; Jackie O, Elizabeth Taylor, Gloria Guinness, and Princess Margaret. He would imprint his love for the color red and the iconic V, becoming signature symbols for the brand. Valentino would retire in 2007 giving creative direction to Alessandra Facchinetti (2007 to 2008),  Maria Grazia Chiuri & Pierpaolo Piccioli (2008 to 2016) and now Pierpaolo Piccioli (2008 to present)

​

Pierpaolo Piccioli's latest Spring 2019 Couture collection embraces cultural appreciation by intentionally casting 43 black models out of 65. If you know the fashion world, you know how white dominated the industry is in all facets from the CEOs, designers, bloggers, influencers, models, and more. 

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

 

​

​

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Piccioli had a picture of  Cecil Beaton’s 1948 photo of white women traditionally glammed and dressed in Charles James gowns as a part of his inspiration board for the collection (Left picture above). 

 

He questioned the photo and asked, "What if Cecil Beaton’s [1948] photograph of those Charles James dresses could be with black women?" 

​

What's so special about his comment? Well, he's making a social critique about the fashion industry he's participating in, in a city that's known for being stuck in their Eurocentric ways.

​

Picciolo's inspo-board not only included Cecil's Beaton's photo but various photos in which Vogue would report, "Piccioli had surrounded the image with others taken from the pages of Ebony and Jet magazines from that period through the 1970s, which included such icons as Eartha Kitt and Beverly Johnson. They were joined by stately medieval depictions of black Madonnas, painterly representations of black beauty like the women in Kerry James Marshall’s impactful contemporary work, and the cover girls of Franca Sozzani’s July 2008 Black Issue of Italian Vogue." His inspiration from the start was black women and black beauty, this is cultural appreciation. Piccioli knows he's in a position of power as an internationally recognized designer and wants to hold Valentino, as a brand, accountable. He knew his show would be highly watched and decided it was an opportunity to contribute to our current visual culture by bringing greater black representation online and in real life. What most designers or fashion people would do is exploit black people and their culture. But instead he empowered black women by putting them in classically beautiful couture gowns made especially for them and not a presumed white model. 

 

Picciolo took it a step further to critique Paris fashion week on his own personal Instagram account. The post would circulate through many media outlets applauding the designer for taking a step towards diversity.

It would be used as proof that fashion can evolve with the times. 

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

 

 

 

 

His caption itself shows he's aware of the racial political climate of Europe, Italy specifically, being discriminatory against black people. He also calls out haute couture for their false aesthetic of valuing white people only. For as long as we know it, beauty standards have revolved around whiteness, the fashion world loves to perpetuate this. Variations of white bodies with light skin, slim physique, straight hair are almost synonymous as the epitome of conventional beauty. It's not a surprise haute couture is majorly made for white bodies. How do we prove this is true? A simple look at runways, commercials, advertisements, and history of visuals will show you whiteness is the majority of the representation. The production of meaning tells us we live in a binary; white, tall, and skinny is the norm, anything outside of that isn't. Not to say that any other race, size, and shape isn't beautiful, because it is. But institutions are dedicated to exclusively representing a socially constructed "desired" look that somehow has been set as the norm everyone should try to attain. This tells minority groups they don't have a spot in the industry unless they look a certain way or are a certain race. Reported by The Fashion Spot Paris fashion shows (where Valeninto presents) are notorious for lacking diversity with models of color representing less than 31.1% of the cast in the past 8 years.

​

Valentino casted black newcomers, well-known faces, and the iconic supermodel Naomi Campbell to be in his show. Naomi is credited for pioneering inclusivity for women of color in the industry showing black models can be fashionable regardless of racism. She closed out the show which became a touching full circle moment for her and those watching. It reminds the audience of a time when Naomi was considered the token black model but now she has opened doors for many models after her. Piccioli is setting a new standard of beauty which is diversity and inclusivity. Fashion should not be for and enjoyed only by white people. 

​

As for the inspiration for the couture it was a spectrum of floral beauty. Each dress was in some shape or form an interpretation of a flower. There were vibrant colored dresses of neon yellow, neon green, coral, and hot pink. Different floral print combinations from elegant pastel to bold and graphic. There were multiple tier gowns that hit the floor. Dresses decorated in lace, feathers, ruffles, and embellishments. Some dresses had exaggerated accents of puffy shoulders, long trains, and covering the perimeter of the face as if swallowed by a flower. Overall it was a beautiful show about black women being graceful yet extravagant in a dominantly white space.