A Journey Through the Atelier’s Art
Review of Giambattista Valli Spring 2025 Couture Fashion Show
By Mark Wittmer
THE COLLECTION
THE VIBE
Eclectically intricate. Ballooning beauty.
Giambattista Valli’s Spring 2025 couture collection saw the designer oscillate between focused yet dramatic instances of his mastery of draping and ostentatiously intricate applications of craft embellishments. The former made for some breathtaking moments, while the latter – though they were a convincing showcase of the atelier’s art – complicated the narrative of the collection to the point of confusion.
In this first category, off-the-shoulder dresses with an angularly wrapped bodice that blossomed into a ballooning, jellyfish-like skirt was a gorgeous example of structural complexity serving a holistic, immediately recognizable wow moment. The final bridal looks, for all their many intricate layers, had a similar sense of elegantly effortless lightness.
Other looks, however, weren’t as easy to digest, with a prime example being the intricately embroidered, sequined, and bejeweled sheer top with an aristocratic ruff neck, sculptural floral belt, and long skirt with metallic embroidery. It’s true that one of the enduring aims of couture is to communicate wealth and power, and the apparent richness of pieces such as this one certainly do just that. But alongside the pieces that draw their impact through a more focused conversation between body and the flow of fabric, these elaborately involved pieces felt decidedly less modern.
But Valli did work to balance out the aristocratic ostentatiousness of his jeweled neckpieces and elaborate embroidery with some intriguing experiments in colorblocking, silhouette, and styling. Some of these surprising decisions worked, some less so. The leather opera gloves that brought a touch of bright color to otherwise relatively sober looks was an experiment that paid off; the blocky horizontal stripes felt confusing and didn’t land.
THE DIRECTION
THE WRAP UP
With looks that can be crafted with just one specific client in mind, a couture collection can’t be judged on the same criteria as a ready-to-wear collection. In this sense, the disparate craft directions that the collection explores can actually work as a strength, as Valli is potentially satisfying the diverse tastes of many of his clients. A master couturier is not only a visionary designer, but also a spokesperson for the atelier and a diplomat to the international and elite society of his clientele – and here Giambattista Valli checks all those boxes.
