Creative director discusses decade at Valentino helm
We caught up with Valentino creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli in Paris a few days after he presented his spring/summer 2019 women’s collection to talk about the importance of streetwear, the role of music in fashion and what he has learned in his decade at the helm of the house. Here are excerpts from that conversation.
Q: Do you envision and design the women’s and men’s collections together or are they separate endeavors?
A: The men’s and women’s collections are completely different, but the idea behind them — the spirit of them — was the same. For men, I did it in one way by bringing couture to the street, by involving the kind of music that influences the young generation. For women, I did it in a different way by using rough sand (textures) and feathers. So you tell the story a different way, but it’s the same story.
Q: Why is it important to you to bring couturelevel workmanship to streetwear?
A: I don’t think that (streetwear) is a trend. It’s a way of being today — streetwear as well as a less formal approach to dressing. It’s not just about the suit (anymore) but about wearing a sweater and wearing jeans. If I’m going to do street, I have to do it with a Valentino level of craft. Otherwise I become generic, and then what reason do you have to choose Valentino?
Q: Some of the pieces in the men’s spring/summer 2019 collection also have connections to musicians. How did that come about?
A: I connected with them because I was very interested in the influence that music has with the new generation. And I feel like now, more than ever, musicians are really the new heroes of the young generation. They say something. I love the idea of mixing the language of music with the language of fashion to deliver a manifesto of freedom to the young generation — to show them a new Valentino that’s inclusive and more open to possibilities.
Q: What did they contribute to the men’s collection?
A: I asked them to choose items in the collection with the VLTN monogram logo and then pick their spirit animal, (and then) we created those pieces. Nas (picked) the lion. Keith Ape (picked the) ape. ASAP Ferg (chose) the black panther, and Syd was the peacock.
Q: What was the thinking behind asking them to pick a spirit animal?
A: I think because it’s something that represents you — a characteristic of you — that’s not just about appearance. It represents your inner self.
Q: What’s on your playlist right now?
A: I change it often, but now I’m obsessed with the singer Tirzah. She’s young. She’s English and she has a beautiful voice. She did the song that just opened the (women’s spring/summer 2019) show. But I continue to listen to David Bowie, to the Rolling Stones, to different decades of Italian music.
Q: How has your job changed in the decade you’ve been at Valentino?
A: I’m definitely more aware now of what I’m doing. You learn that you have to not only do collections but to tell a big story about the brand. You have to know where you want to take it, how you want to transform the brand, how you want to update it. Because the world is changing and if you are in your safe territory doing Valentino, (then) the brand is not relevant for the contemporaneity. I want Valentino to be relevant for the moment we live in, so (I) always have to update and change and see what’s happening in the world. My job is about giving a vision of beauty (that reflects back) the time I’m living in. If I do only a beautiful collection but one which is not related to the times, I’ve only done half my job ... I’ve created something beautiful but that doesn’t touch the emotions.