Giambattista Valli, the Italian designer known for creating oversize silhouettes while wowing audiences with his bodacious gowns, took a more low-key design approach for his Spring Summer 2024 collection unveiling on Sept. 29. Valli has been on so many red carpets this year, on such stars as Penélope Cruz and Yara Shahidi to Priyanka Chopra Jonas. Perhaps this could be why actors Madison Bailey, Lucy Hale, and Sofia Carson were posted front row at the show, plotting their next Valli red carpet moment post the actor’s strike. Also, front row were socialites David Blasberg and Ivy Getty, and Olivia Palermo and her model husband Johannes Huebl.
At the Oscars this year, actors Allison Williams, Sandra Oh, and Carson stunned in extravagant silhouette gowns from the brand, while at the 2023 SAG Awards, Angela Bassett stunned in a yellow off-the-shoulder mermaid gown. And for the 2022 Red Sea International Film Festival, actor Marina Ruy Barbosa also wore an exuberant but shapely red gown.
White and black were strong colors in the new collection, a trend seen on many Spring Summer 2024 runways. Wine color silhouettes were also aplenty, as well as colorful embroidery on dresses. One unique touch was the circular patch-like print on white dresses. Paisley detailing is etched into lace dresses as well. Flowers, bows, and rhinestones add a 3D touch to many of the looks, while a Grecian-esque and a 70s chiffon flow to dresses give shape and comfortability for the warmer months.
Models pose backstage prior to the Giambattista Valli Womenswear Spring/Summer 2024 show as part of Paris Fashion Week on Sept. 29, 2023 in Paris, France.
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Compared to other collections — where flamboyancy is not the exception but typically a Valli rule — the designer chose less red-carpet moment dresses. But the A-line white off-the-shoulder gown with ruffles going around the waist or the white tweed dress with thigh high slit in the center with a bow for a belt — as well as the blush pink spaghetti strap gown that’s reminiscent of a mermaid style dress — will certainly make for evening gowns.
Giambattista Valli and Anna Wintour pose at the Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres ceremony at Musée National Picasso-Paris on Sept. 29, 2023 in Paris, France.
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Later on that evening at the Musée National Picasso-Paris, Anna Wintour, who is a dame as well as a French Knight of the Legion of Honor, presented Valli with his own knighthood for his contribution to the world of the arts. It’s one of the highest honors that France gives to its citizens or foreigners. In a post on the Giambattista Valli Instagram account, it notes how Wintour stated of Valli during her speech that he “had the courage to help dust off Haute Couture.” Also, in attendance was Diana Widmaier Picasso, granddaughter of Pablo Picasso, and officer of the Order of Arts and Letters.
