Valentino and Akris in reflective moods

A brisk, breezy Sunday saw thousands of fans crowd around the entrance to shows by two of the classiest brands in fashion, Valentino and Akris, where dark reflection was the unifying theme.
 

Valentino: Red to many blacks

Valentino, the fashion house that defined the concept sinful red, is now the true of expression of devilish black.

Black has made a huge comeback this season, but its greatest triumph was this Sunday at Valentino, where designer Pierpaolo Piccioli created the entire collection in black, or should we say blacks.
 
As he noted in his program notes, his hues of blacks evoked the mournful blacks of Mark Rothko; the reflective noirs of Pierre Soulages and the sculptural blacks of Brânçusi.

Smartly, Piccioli chose the Hotel Pozzo di Borgo on rue de l’Université, a gilded mansion best known for being the former home of Karl Lagerfeld. The array fashionable black from morning to midnight ideally contrasted by the white walls, golden molding and historic frescoes and lunettes.
 
For day, he showed the crispest of suits, cut with a scalpel and made with mini of short ruffled skirts. He cut the best tuxedos of the season, both as dresses and as short jackets, while his redingotes and long coats all reeked of class.
 
If his daywear was a tad predictable, Piccioli took plenty of risks for transparent evening, with a series of semi-sheer chiffon cocktails and gowns for a great sense of elegance. With Sade classic tracks playing as the cast strolled through the five ground-floor rooms of the mansion, it was a moment of considerable fashion charm, and a collection which should appeal to thousands of women of taste.
 
“Black has always been the uniform of democracy,” Baudelaire once noted, and it was again this season at Valentino, the greatest couture brand in the history of Rome.
 
Piccioli has always been a great dream maker, but he knows how to create merch too. Adding a snazzy and savvy range of great bags.
 
It should be further noted that in his Valentino campaigns and casting, the Roman-born Piccioli has utilized many models of color, intelligently reflecting the changing composition of the Italian capital. Since a new generation of kids whose parents crossed the Med from Africa to Italy are now an important part of the local culture.
 
It’s a brave step, and one that should be applauded, given the anti-immigrant politics of many populists, not just in Italy, but also throughout Europe in recent years.
 
At the finale, Pierpaolo took his bow, in a quick saunter around the mansion, a consummate professional, enjoying the recognition of his peers and industry.
 

Akris: Photogram fantasy, consummate chic

Sunday afternoon witnessed a consummately chic collection by Akris that ended with photogram fantasy at Akris, staged in a defunct department store on the rue de Rivoli.

See catwalk

Starring a brilliant series of fabrics and finishes teased out of the remarkable production facilities that Akris designer Albert Kriemler and family have created in their hometown in St. Gallen, Switzerland.
 
His big tailoring idea this season was completing many coats and jackets with mini ponchos and capes, often made in a first-rate material, Stone System cashmere, which blocks both wind and rain. His silhouette was bodycon and tapered, with dapper jackets often paired with Albert’s signature double front vent skirts. 
 
For evening, he created pants of such fluidity that they looked like skirts, and a fine series of oversize officers’ blouses in faille.
 
In a somber season, his palette was dark – coal, charcoal, dark olive and kale green, but so dark they seemed almost black, yet also reflective. Before he really put his atelier into overdrive with several dark columns in lace – the key fabric of St. Gallen – finished mesmerizingly with natural rubber.
 
When considering Akris’ unique status in fashion, it’s important to realize that a large majority of major collections show in Milan, New York or Paris are made by garment manufacturers in Italy, sometimes France and occasionally in Portugal. Akris, however, does it all in Switzerland, with the net result that its finish, materials, tangents and details are genuinely different than those of its major rivals.
 
Which also made this season’s finale so special; some 18 looks inspired by the photogram art of Katalin Deér, a Swiss artist who crumples prints in dark rooms or places objects on them to create beautifully colorful twisted shapes, which Albert then crafted into superb evening coats or chiffon gowns, while coloring the columns in the old store in Deér’s prints, as the models appeared in a graphic triumph at the finale.
 
Master designer Kriemler at his quietest-best delivering luscious luxury.