Once upon a time I wrote this: Valentino - The end of a fairytale

As the show ended I couldn’t help but feel a sense of sadness.  Not only would I most likely never be able to purchase an original Valentino dress designed by Valentino Garavani himself, but on top of it I had to watch the show on YouTube along with my other fellow mortals.  For some reason my internet had been acting up for days and kept freezing every 30 seconds.  Perhaps my neighbor realized that I usually hack into her network and decided to put some type of voodoo block on it. 

Many fail to understand the amount of research and time behind a single collection. 

With every collection designers always attempt to tell a story, this story is what will be retold every time a garment is worn.  It is therefore imperative that the story is narrated with great technique, colors, fabrics and even the aura of the models wearing the pieces factor into the equations.  When the pieces are sent down the runway for the final judging by fashion experts and tastemakers the message should be as clear as a well written press release.  However, few are as gifted and as clear of narrators as Valentino.  

When it was time for the great emperor of the kingdom of Valentino to hand in his robe, it was a bitter sweet goodbye.  As he waved his final adieu to his adoring devotees in a room filled with his legacy moving elegantly on the bodies of some of the most beautiful women in the world, one cannot help but wonder what was going through his mind.  What a great sense of accomplishment.  The kind of success that Valentino has lived to witness is the kind that is not only unimaginable but also ludicrous to even dream of.  He has dressed the likes of Countess Jacqueline de Ribes, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Elizabeth Taylor, Princess Margaret, and Julia Roberts just to name a few, and there he was taking his final bow.  

Throughout his 45 year long career Valentino has in my opinion celebrated femininity and elegance in a way that has yet to be captured by any other designer.  His sense of technique, love for old-school glamour along with the always apparent amount of joie de vivre present in his collections will be missed and spoken of for many years to come.  Unlike many artists Valentino was able to live to see the fruit of his labor, and as he walked the final walk to standing ovations it was clear that this was the end of a well written fairytale.

Smooch!

Ps. Azzedine Alaïa, Cristobal Balenciaga, Yves Saint Laurent, Tom Ford and Emanuelle Ungaro are also FAVES of mine.