After a four-year hiatus, Pierpaolo Piccioli reintroduces men to a new world at the Valentino FW24 menswear show for Paris Fashion Week Men’s
Valentino brings back menswear for the first time in four years, reintroduced to a new world. Creative Director Pierpaolo Piccioli guides the FW24 collection with a stroke of contemporary masculinities. Departing from convention, Piccioli employs the color blue to shift the perspective of this otherwise “masculine” color, one that was used before to present feminine ideals. The Le Ciel collection is anchored in a serene blue hue, prompting a thoughtful reassessment and adjustment of the conversation around the modern man.
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The House is known for its hot pink hue, catapulted into the mainstream seasons before. So into the zeitgeist was the color, it joined the official color scale of Pantone under the name, “Pink PP”. Piccioli used the color to subvert perceptions around it; He’s doing the same for blue, in particular, a “sky blue”. For the new collection, blue is not the color of man, nor the color of women before it. Color is often rooted and reflected in society’s perception; as with language, the definition of certain colors evolves. As with ourselves, we evolve with it.
In Piccioli’s vision, the sky blue hue transforms into a metaphor, embodying the unrestrained ability to think expansively—a playful acknowledgment that the sky isn’t a limit but an open scene for limitless imagination. The execution is all ours. In this case, it is all man.
The collection started in monochromatic blacks. Turtleneck sweaters, polo shirts, zip-up hoodies, and textured trench coats that are embroidered, fuzzy, or stranded fill or attached in this alignment. Forever twins, parallel to the light and dark, both needed to intensify and enhance color, white comes onto the runway. As the proverb goes, it’s always darkest before the dawn.
When sunshine meets raindrops, it’s a reflective affair where light decides to bounce back. It throws a spectrum party and voila—chromatica steals the spotlight. It isn’t all pastels, but electric lighting of sharp greens, reds, and, of course, blue.
The day is bright at Valentino, and it isn’t long and tired; there’s a sort of grace and gentleness at the heart of this man. There’s a palpable grace and gentleness embedded in the very essence of this man. It’s not a demeanor carved from stone or chilled like ice; instead, it pulsates with vitality—a living heartthrob.
The transformation is unmistakable, especially after a four-year hiatus from menswear. Piccioli’s artistry introduces techniques and fabrics reminiscent of haute couture practices. While the collection predominantly features suits, jackets, and shirts, there’s an unmistakable softness, akin to a comforting embrace needed at day’s end. It’s almost as if this new man demands it: craving that touch of tenderness.
Pierpaolo Picciolo explores the new man from within: traditional in silhouette, haute in construction. The shift is subtle yet remarkably distinctive, marking the entry into a new era. The Valentino man is reinvigorated, a splash of rain gently falling to their face, melting in their metallic and robotic structures. No longer characterized by stiffness or excessive structure, he emerges as a being fully attuned to both appearance and emotion. The new man is undeniably human; he doesn’t merely look the part, but authentically feels it. This is where the new man begins.
Photos and Featured Image: VALENTINO
