I might have been in a Paris café, sitting at a table with friends and watching the world go by. A very glamorous group of finely dressed women were walking at street level until they all stepped out on to that favorite French word: a boulevard. 

Was this the first time I had seen a Valentino show in “normal” territory – when it is usually on hallowed grounds of grand and gracious buildings; or in a carefully prepared site? This imaginative show by Pierpaolo Piccioli made me think of the past: the remembrance of Mr Valentino’s catwalk show, stunning the audience in Florence’s Sala Bianca – and setting off his career – more than half a century ago. 

There were other moments of grandeur. So many of them. Marisa Berenson smothered in jewels with a whiff of North Africa; or a model’s scarlet dress sliced down one leg to be made for walking. One thing was sure: Pierpaolo, as current creative director, was dramatically modernizing the Valentino collection…

…What do the archives show? Primarily, how much further towards the future Mr Valentino became in reality, than just in the elegance for which he is remembered. But it also proves, in an era when new designers take over exhibiting brands, that it is a particular skill to make the past present.

What does that mean? Looking at the photographs of then and now – today’s clothes are the same. Yet they are now interpreted by different photographers and with contemporary models – and, of course, up-to-the-moment hair and make up.
But for me, watching that walk on the streets of Paris, Pierpaolo Piccioli proved that it is possible to be both timeless – and modern.

Credit: Courtesy of Valentino

Press release written by the journalist and fashion critic Suzy Menkes

Images from Valentino Rendez-Vous fashion show

Backstage images from Valentino Rendez-Vous fashion show

Images from special installation in the Montenapoleone boutique