Valentino S/S 2017

Mood board: Inspiration for the latest collection from Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli came after a visit to The Met Breuer’s Unfinished: Thoughts Left Visible exhibition. The show, which is on until 4 September, focuses on works that have been left incomplete by their makers. It has inspired the season’s non finito attitude to expert craftsmanship. Linings to jackets were left unsewn, creating a more languid mood, as tacking stitches remained in garments as if frozen mid-construction. The finer details were best appreciated in real life, up-close. 

Best in show: The interrupted atelier mood of S/S 2017 was rolled out from head-to-toe. On black derby shoes, shiny staples and stitching were left exposed to reveal the sum of all their parts. Printed leather attaché cases were held close to the body as if there were a craftsman’s toolkit inside.

Finishing touches: The collection featured several nods to the label’s growing customisation service with monograms appearing across double-breasted, wool felt overcoats, neat field jackets and parkas. The hallmarks of Valentino were all here but this time deconstructed: the camouflage more graphic, the sense of uniform more austere, and the boho… undone.