I had the privilege to  attend the Valentino Haute Couture Fashion Show in Rome. The show took place downtown Rome on the Spanish Steps and the event was truly magic. Pierpaolo Piccoli called his new collection “The Beginning” and when I arrived in Rome I saw a huge billboard at Piazza Mignanelli where the following was written: “Roma is the place where everything starts, the life, the people, our stories, and identities are here. We belong to this place as much as this place belongs to the world and to Valentino.”

Pierpaolo Piccoli works now for more than 23 years for the Maison Valentino and since 2008 he is their Creative Director. The show took place on July 8 at 8pm. The sun was still shining and sunset happened during the show which was absolutely beautiful and strongly contributed to the magic moments I experienced when watching the show. A gentle wind was blowing while the live music by Labrinth and Alex Baranowski was playing and the first models walked down the 136 slippery stairs of the Spanish Steps. My personal most emotional moment was when the singer Labrinth  performed the song “beneath your beautiful” and the models vanished at the end of the catwalk in the soft light of the sunset.

At the end of the show, Pierpaolo Piccoli came on stage and with a nice and kind gesture invited all people in the atelier who had contributed to the success of the show to come on stage. The designs, the looks, the models, the scenery, the music and the whole atmosphere had a very strong and hard to explain effect on me. In order to fully understand it, you have to be there and see, hear and feel it. My conclusion after the event was clear: if the devil wears Prada, the angels wear Valentino. Congratulations to Pierpaolo Piccoli and the whole team!