Cover Valentino Haute Couture Fall Winter 2022 (Photo: Valentino)

Tatler’s fashion correspondent Rosana Lai jetted to Italy for the star-studded show over the weekend—here’s what she saw

It was a show that ended couture week on a high. At Valentino’s autumn/winter 2022 haute couture show, which took place on July 9, the fashion house eschewed their usual spot in Paris Couture Week and instead staged a homecoming of sorts: the collection was showcased on a 600-metre catwalk that connects the Spanish Steps, a landmark of the city of Rome, to Valentino’s headquarters in Piazza Mignanelli, which is a stone’s throw away. At the top of the Spanish Steps is the location of Valentino Garavani’s original house of couture, which he founded in 1959.

In case you missed it: Tatler’s Edit of the Best Looks From the Autumn/Winter 2022/23 Couture Shows

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Above Valentino Haute Couture Fall Winter 2022 (Photo: Valentino)

“Rome is the place where everything began,” says Valentino’s creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli. “We belong to this place as much as this place belongs to the world—and to Valentino.”

Read more: Exclusive: Valentino’s Pierpaolo Piccioli Shares the Stories Of The Artwork Behind His Latest Couture Collection

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Above Valentino Haute Couture Fall Winter 2022 (Photo: Valentino)
Tatler Asia
Above Valentino Haute Couture Fall Winter 2022 (Photo: Valentino)

Models walked down the steps to the sound of a live performance by English rapper Labrinth, dressed in cascading pink ruffle capes that drifted in the summer breeze; 3D roses and giant bows that sat on busts and hips alike; and feathered millinery—reminiscent of those sprouting out of the models’ heads at the house’s spring/summer 2018 couture show.

Dramatic statements were made with helmets and masks, as well as glitter face paint—previously seen in Valentino’s 2019 couture show in Beijing—which accompanied sparkling columns. The looks carried with them the purist, sophisticated aesthetic Piccioli is known for, with clean lines and casual separates that are given the couture treatment with a clash of odd colours, or an extra roll of fabric. Diamante tights and feathered flats were welcome punches of youthfulness. Meanwhile, extra slouch found its way into menswear, evident in the cutting of coats and basketball tanks.

Don't miss: Michelle Yeoh Was the Surprise Star of Paris Couture Fashion Week

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Photo 1 of 6 Valentino Haute Couture Fall Winter 2022 (Photo: Valentino)
Photo 2 of 6 Valentino Haute Couture Fall Winter 2022 (Photo: Valentino)
Photo 3 of 6 Valentino Haute Couture Fall Winter 2022 (Photo: Valentino)
Photo 4 of 6 Valentino Haute Couture Fall Winter 2022 (Photo: Valentino)
Photo 5 of 6 Valentino Haute Couture Fall Winter 2022 (Photo: Valentino)
Photo 6 of 6 Valentino Haute Couture Fall Winter 2022 (Photo: Valentino)

At the end of the show, Piccioli and the members of his atelier descended the steps to a standing ovation from the likes of Anne Hathaway, Andrew Garfield, Kate Hudson, Ashley Park and Ariana De Bose.

“It’s a personal story, a conversation with Valentino to show how much of him is in me,” says Piccioli. It is, he adds, an exchange around shapes, proportions, colours—one that is both “imagined and real”.

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Photo 1 of 7 ROME, ITALY - JULY 08: Anne Hathaway is seen arriving at the Valentino Haute Couture Fall/Winter 22/23 fashion show on July 08, 2022 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Jacopo Raule/Getty Images)
Photo 2 of 7 Ashley Park
Photo 3 of 7 Andrew Gardfield
Photo 4 of 7 Kate Hudson
Photo 5 of 7 Ariana de Bose
Photo 6 of 7 Florence Pugh
Photo 7 of 7 Naomi Campbell

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