Giambattista Valli Fall Couture 2011

After having designed under his own name for only six years, Giambattista Valli has cracked into the world of couture. He has worked for notable designers in the past--fellow Italian Roberto Capucci and as art director at Emanuel Ungaro, but he broke away to create a solo line only in 2005. From Capucci, he states he learned how to make use of color and volume. The success of Capucci's tutelage is apparent in Valli's couture collection.

Although this line opens with "nice" looks that would be perfectly acceptable in a ready-to-wear collection, Valli slides a few more couture-esque looks into the mix as it progresses. The show ends, however, with about a dozen elaborate gowns--all of which deserve the title of "showstopper," and all of which demonstrate how much Valli deserves to be an oft repeated name during award season. Still, I'm a little hesitant to grant this collection the title of couture--the work remains a little tame, a little lacking in the theatrics we come to expect. 

At the same time, Valli's work shows incredible progress, and as a first couture collection, his is by no means a failure. 

Posted by: Carla