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A subtext of masculine 'couture' was layered through the Valentino Men's collection for A/W 14, referencing both the softly enveloping shapes and the sheer man-hours laboured over double-face cashmere in the house's Roman ateliers. With designers Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli christening their world-first menswear emporium on Rue Saint-Honoré after the show, it was time for the Valentino man to think of home, and how better to do it than wrapped in Cubist, carpet flannel and shearling, or those louche, cashmere numbers? A distinct nautical undertone accompanied the warm geometries of the collection, with a dockside denim boilersuit making more than one appearance and stiff, embellished bucket hats accenting relaxed, four-button tailoring looks. The appliqué wings of an intricate owl wrapped around a pair of overcoats popped up mid-show, as a motif borrowed from the women's pre-fall. All sound rather opulent? It was, yet it felt modern when juxtaposed with the season's white sneakers (à la Stan Smith, whose iconic Adidas shoe relaunched coincidentally on the same day).
Photography: Anna Stokland/Jason Lloyd-Evans
