How optimistic that the first day of Paris Haute Couture Week is opening with a new beginning. Giambattista Valli, who's been voted unanimously into the exclusive circle of the Chambre Syndicale de la Mode, is about to show his first full-fledged couture collection on Monday night—and you might even say it's by popular demand. One piece already had its preview in Monaco on Saturday: a strapless draped chiffon goddess dress with a fluttery cape in what Valli called "Princess Grace blue," chosen by Charlotte Casiraghi to wear to Prince Albert and Charlene Wittstock's wedding dinner. "This is the same one, but in coral," he said, pointing to the evening section of the collection which, "will be part my Roman side, and part Parisian. I want to do timeless, seasonless things that look easy and contemporary—but faultless."
What's to come? A line-up of 44 exquisite looks, embedded with a signature play on his favorite pearls, pristine flower embroideries, frothing tulle, pouffy bows, and a dose of leopard spots. In other words: a culmination of everything he knows about crafting gorgeous things from the "50–50" relationships he has with the women whose tastes he knows so well. Standing back to review his lineup board, he remarked, "I can see Charlotte Dellal there, Lee Radziwill here, Bianca and Rihanna here—and of course, that's Charlotte Casiraghi." Any other newcomer stepping up to the super level of custom-made dressing might be nervous about who will buy. Not Valli. After six years in business under his own name and career-long experience at Fendi, Capucci, and Ungaro, he says, "It's something so natural to me—it’s part of my knowledge and culture. And, I've built it myself, step by step. No backers, no nothing." Congratulations, then, to a unique independent, spreading his wings.
