Valentino has delivered plenty of statement-making looks recently, from couture combat boots to major platforms and hot pink everything.
But the Italian brand’s latest collection for its men’s spring 2024 color has a lot more to say – literally.
Amidst the spring ‘24 collection, which walked the runway Friday at Milan Men’s Fashion Week, creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli incorporated excerpts from author Hanya Yanagihara’s novel “A Little Life.”
The excerpts were printed in white lettering onto black jackets and leather briefcases. “We are so old we have become young again,” read a black suit jacket, referencing a popular quote from the novel, which follows the lives of four young men establishing their lives in New York City. The 2015 book by Yanagihara (who is also a magazine editor) is widely considered to be a modern classic.
The literary garments were joined on the runway by plenty of Piccioli’s signature color palettes and embellishments (this time in flowers, as a symbol of life and done in the style of Kintsugi a Japanese term meaning “golden seams,” which celebrates imperfection and repair). There was also a series of black suiting shorts that expanded on the brand’s idea of the modern men’s silhouette. The shorts were paired with matching black socks and a series of black leather loafers outfitted with Valentino’s Rockstuds for a punk-luxe look that was also apparent in the fall ’24 collection. A series of new graphic sneakers in black and white also walked the runway.
Watch on FN
The front row looks echoed the shorts suiting look on the runway, with attendees such as Jacob Elordi sporting tailored black shorts with a black leather blazers, white shirt, black tied and black leather Rockstud dress boots paired with white socks.
