Giambattista Valli

Giambattista Valli, an eponymous label by the Italian designer established around ten years ago, started as a ready-to-wear label, grew to be one of the most confident and finest couture houses in the world. Today it is one of the fourteen permanent members of the prestigious Chambre syndicale de la haute couture in Paris.

Index

The Origin

Brand Development

Giambattista Valli Style

Famous Clients

Current Situation

The Origin

Giambattista Valli was born in Rome, Italy in the year 1966. At eight years, Valli started to get interested in fashion getting influenced by divas like Claudia Cardinale, Marilyn Monroe and Rita Hayworth. In 1980, at fourteen, he studied art at a Roman liceo scientifico (Scientific High School) where he discovered the drawings of Jean Cocteau, the illustrations of Rene Gruau for Christian Dior and the watercolor painting of Yves Saint Laurent, which inspired him to pursue fashion as a career.

Valli then attended Istituto Europeo di Design (IED) in Rome in the year 1986 majoring in fashion design. The following year he went on to do a foundation course in illustration at Central Saint Martins School of Art and Design.

After studying in both Italy and London, Valli returned to Rome to work for Cecilia Fanfani. Sometime later, he started working for Roberto Capucci in 1988. He started initially in public relations and was later promoted to be part of the design team. Here his use of colour and dramatic clothing was encouraged.

Recruited by Fendi in 1990, Valli started to work as a Senior Designer for their new prêt-à-porter line Fendissime. He moved to Milan in 1995, where he started work as a Senior Designer for Krizia’s womenswear prêt-à-porter line. Valli moved to Paris in 1997 to work for Emanuel Ungaro as Art Director for the ready-to-wear collections. The following year Valli was named the creative director of Emanuel Ungaro.

Valli left Emanuel Ungaro in 2004 and signed a five-year contract with Italian company Gilmar to produce and distribute his own collections.

Brand Development

Valli launched the first collection for his own brand under the name Giambattista Valli for the 2005-2006 Fall/Winter prêt-à-porter, with the massive support from notable people like Lee Radziwill, Diane Kruger and Dita Von Teese.

He added accessories, fur and bridal collections to his label in 2007, after turning down the position of creative director at Valentino. For Fall 2008 ready-to-wear Valli took inspiration from Ingmar Bergman’s Cries and Whispers, the surrealist artist Meret Oppenheim, and “Little Red Riding Hood.” That would explain the show’s colour palette, which slowly shifted from ivory to shocking pink to blood red, with a couple of prints along the way. The silhouette was a long exposé on volume, opening with a hobble skirt below one of his new fur shrugs, moving through the sway-back cocoon dresses that have become his signature, and finally exploding in a finale of ball gowns with fitted, strapless bodices atop enormous ballooning skirts.

He opened his first boutique in Rue Boissy d’Anglas in Paris in December 2010, the first boutique that was dedicated entirely to the brand’s prêt-à-porter collections, furs and accessories including shoes, bags and jewellery. 6 years after launching his own brand, on July 2011 Valli launched his brand’s first haute couture line for the 2011-2012 Fall/Winter in the Paris Haute Couture show.  The same year Valli collaborated with Macy’s for a limited-edition collection.

The Fall couture collection of 2013 took inspiration from ceramics. The show started with a series of eight looks in Capodimonte white. After Capodimonte was Wedgwood. France’s sanguine red Sèvres came next. The multicolour Meissen-influenced embroideries were last. For Fall 2014 ready-to-wear, the collection comprised of short skirts, exaggerated florals and extended sleeves. The palette Valli staple gentle pinks and reds. The same year in September, Giambattista Vallis launched a new label Giamba (his nickname), to be existing simultaneously with his eponymous label and to be more fun and playful.

The Spring couture collection of 2016, taking just after the November Paris attacks took inspiration from the city’s famous gardens. “It’s kind of a thank you to Paris” Valli said backstage. This collection saw a lot of Valli signature short lengths, exaggerated volumes along with bishop sleeves, Watteau backs and some empire-waist gowns. Giambattista Valli launched an activewear capsule collection in 2017 setting retail expansion. The initiative marks the first steps of the label’s planned expansion under its new partnership with the billionaire Pinault family.

Giambattista Valli Style

Valli’s signature style revolves around florals, tulle (organza), short lengths and exaggerated volume. Giambattista Valli is known for his timeless elegance. Offering chic clothes for the jet setter’s lifestyle, some of his ready-to-wear clothes have been likened to couture designs. His designs give an impression of romance, sensuality and harmony.

Giambattista Valli’s couture-like creations have found a loyal following due to their glamorous yet practical appeal, with the flawless finish of his pieces reflecting years spent honing his skills at renowned Italian fashion houses. Speaking about trends, when once asked about them, his response was, “When I hear that something is trendy, I want to do the opposite”. He truly believes in creating one’s own style and that fashion isn’t about clothing as much as it is about style.

Famous Clients

Giambattista Valli designs have been worn by many famous women including actresses, models and even royalty. Some of the most iconic clients of the house are, Sarah Jessica Parker, Hilary Swank, Demi Moore, Penelope Cruz, Jessica Biel, Reese Witherspoon, Naomi Campbell, Mary Kate Olsen, Doutzen Kroes, Iman (Zara Mohamed Abdulmajid), Queen Rania of Jordan and Princess Clotilde of Courau.

Current Situation

Today, Giambattista Valli is the only living Italian designer that designs solely for his own brand, and is also the only living designer that uses his own name to showcase both prêt-à-porter and haute couture line. Staunchly and independent, even after the acquisition of a minority of stake by Kering’s Groupe Artémis in 2017, he still maintains a large control of his brand as in the beginning since he founded his brand.

On January 2018, Valli showcased a light lime green organza dress as a wow factor piece for 2018 Spring/Summer Haute Couture show in Paris. The dress, which consumes up to 350 meters of organza, is taller than most of the famous building in the world (Le Tour Eiffel in Paris for example). Once again, Giambattista Valli stunned the world with his unlimited creativity, whimsical vision and excellent sewing skill.

The most recent collection of Fall 2018 ready-to-wear presented by Giambattista Valli drew inspiration from nomadic pioneers of the 1970s who travelled to allow the culture of other places to broaden their outlook heighten their art. Alighiero Boetti in Afghanistan, Francesco Clemente and Alba Primiceri in Pondicherry, and more lately Gabriella Crespi in her Himalayan eyrie were some of the examples stitched into this gilded, globalized melting pot of a collection.