PICCIOLI, PIERPAOLO
BRAND AND FASHION DESIGNER , P
PICCIOLI PIERPAOLO IS A ROMAN FASHION DESIGNER, THE CREATIVE DIRECTOR OF VALENTINO TODAY
Pierpaolo Piccioli
PIERPAOLO PICCIOLI, THE ORIGINS
Nettuno is a village of 50,000 inhabitants, a few kilometers from Rome overlooking the Tyrrhenian Sea. Pierpaolo Piccioli was born here in 1968. He grew up and despite the difficulties, he decided to stay. Attracted by art from an early age, Pierpaolo felt out of place in that small provincial town, where he was seen as the strange, the different one, for his decision to study fashion in the capital.
In Rome the situation wasn’t better: his fellow students at the European Institute of Design considered him as a provincial, the one who had to take the train to go home. But it was here that, thanks to a mutual friend, he met la Chiuri . The redemption arrived in 2008 when he was appointed creative director of the Valentino Maison. Together with Maria Grazia Chiuri, with whom he already had a professional experience at Fendi. Since then in his new role Piccioli stood out compared to his colleagues.
DIVERSITY AS A VALUE
The designer is not attracted by the glossy world of fashion; he remained to live in his country of origin with his wife Simona and did not go to the parties regularly. Pierpaolo was interested in the work more than the shiny context. Initially he believed he had to adapt his personality to the new position, thinking that his character was not what was expected from an art director.
But after an initial period of crisis, he began to see diversity as an added value. This awareness was reflected in the garments he proposes. Convinced that fashion is not a mere production of clothes, but a way to convey messages and values, he believes that diversity is a priority.
Pierpaolo’s repulsion for stereotypes is also evident in his creations: unpredictable references such as Giotto’s angel and a punk girl in the same dress were on the agenda.
CREATIVE PARTNERSHIP OF MARIA GRAZIA CHIURI AND PIERPAOLO PICCIOLI
After the first experience at Fendi in the accessories department, the two designers moved together to Valentino in 1999, for which they began to work in the accessories department. The two creatives collaborated on the Maison’s collections, helping to enhance the brand’s codes and giving it new lifeblood. Initially, the two worked on the collections of bags and eyewear, taking over the entire revaluation of the Red Valentino collection in 2003.
In 2008, Valentino Garavani retired and left the Maison in the hands of the designer Alessandra Facchinetti. The creative direction of Facchinetti, however, was short. In fact, after just a year, the command passed to Chiuri and Piccioli, who officially became the creative directors of the Maison.
Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli
The two worked together to revive the men’s line, and created collections that have become part of the brand’s DNA, such as the Rockstud bag. In 2015, the two designers received the CFDA International Award.
SOLO CREATIVE DIRECTION OF PICCIOLI
In 2016, after twenty-six years of collaboration, the two designers took different paths. Maria Grazia Chiuri became the creative director of Dior, the first female creative direction in the history of the Maison, while Piccioli remained at Valentino and took over the complete creative direction.
Since his first solo collection, Piccioli revolutionized the Valentino style, bringing a new sensitivity and new codes of elegance. Precisely for this reason, in 2016, he received a standing ovation after the presentation of the debut ready-to-wear spring 2017 collection.
Valentino ready-to-wear spring-summer 2017, Pierpaolo Piccioli’s debut
THE SUCCESS
Success continued, as his inexhaustible creative genius. He was the author of some of the most beautiful fashion shows in recent years. Just two years after its debut in 2018, the second standing ovation arrived during the Haute Couture fall/winter 2018 show.
The collection, held in July at the Hôtel Salomon de Rothschild in Paris, left all the guests speechless. The contemporaneity of the forms, the explosion of colours, transported the grandêur of the historic maison into modernity. Feathers, maximalist structures, fluid and loose dresses with sinuous shapes have managed to convey the idea of romanticism, sensitivity and humanity in which the designer has always believed.
Valentino Haute Couture AW18
Very same year, the designer was elected Designer of The Year at the Fashion Awards. Journalist and fashion critic Robin Givhan, commenting on Piccioli’s work in the Washington Post said: “Designers build up narratives that make you escape from reality. But unlike a film or a painting, which can only remain etched in your memory, fashion stays with you: in the office, at dinner, on vacation, in the gym.
You can wrap yourself in it, it can become a weapon of seduction […] Even if it would be difficult to show off a Pierpaolo Piccioli creation on a treadmill, one thing is certain; 2018 was his year and he gave more than a touch of happiness to ours”.
COLLABORATION WITH MONCLER
In 2019, Piccioli unveiled its collaboration with Moncler, the final chapter of the Moncler Genius project inaugurated by Remo Ruffini in February 2018. The project involves fashion talents such as Simone Rocha and Francesco Ragazzi of Palm Angels reinterpreting the brand codes. The Valentino designer took the iconic coat from the company founded in 1952 in Monestier-de-Clermont and transformed it into a breathtaking series of voluminous nylon laqué dresses in full-skirts, hooded jackets and goose down seams.
Moncler Genius – Pierpaolo Piccioli
Various palettes, which ranged from black and white to pastel pink and narcissus yellow, makes the garments even more special with motifs inspired by African fabric prints, created in collaboration with model Liya Kebede, who actively supports the local crafts.
Capsule creations combine the tailoring and flair typical of Haute Couture with Moncler’s functionality and popular African decorations. The result is charming and extravagant.
DESIGNER OF THE YEAR FOR THE CFDA
In 2020, the Roman designer won the International Women’s Designer of the Year.
The announcement was made by Tom Ford, president of the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA), on the Runway360 digital platform at the opening of the New York Fashion Week.
In 2021, with the world still in check from the coronavirus pandemic, Piccioli presented the Valentino spring-summer 2021 ready-to-wear collection in Milan.
The event was doubly important, not only because it was the first time the brand did a fashion show in Italy and not in France, but also because the entire presentation was a celebration of the Italian fashion sector, which was strongly hit by the pandemic.
FASHION IN THE TIME OF CORONAVIRUS ACCORDING TO PICCIOLI
Piccioli rewrote the Valentino codes in a moment of transition, innovating it and modernizing it without losing the essence of the Maison. Maintaining emotional liveliness, while remaining in tune with the intense rhythms of today. Lace, macramé, crochet, and embroidery were some of the main elements, reworked here with a more “human” touch. Both the feminine and masculine lines shared shapes, volumes and fabrics; the same blouses, suits and blazers are often offered in identical versions for both.
Creating linear looks, almost minimal, the collection then focused on evening proposals with an ethereal atmosphere, Valentino’s signature looks now. In this case, the sophisticated shapes of caftans and capes are drawn with fluid and efficient precision. Highlighting the reductionist approach, the only print present was the floral print of an archive dress: a yellow dress worn by Anjelica Huston and lent by Giampaolo Barbieri in 1972.
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