More proof that the late-’60s/early-’70s look has legs came from Giambattista Valli today. Valli is a dyed-in-the-wool dress man, but he got into flares in a big way for Pre-Fall. Floral velvets, patchwork chevrons, even a wide-wale corduroy turned up here, and though trousers are still relatively new for the designer, he made a persuasive case for them—they looked sleek and aerodynamic. He cited Mariana Schiano, Loulou de la Falaise, and other “rule-less women” as muses.
Otherwise, the collection had an uptown bohemian vibe—hippie and trippy (see the kaleidoscopic floral print) but still polished in the GV way. Like many pieces in the offering, Valli’s knee-high boots were covered in a floral motif of one sort or another. In materials other than leather, they’re the kind of thing a woman could conceivably buy before summer starts (when these clothes and accessories arrive in stores) and wear straight through until the first snowfall. The lineup’s big surprise was fur: Mixed in amid a fox chubby and a sheared, patchwork mink was a generously proportioned floor-scraper—100 percent gloriously faux.
