Red, a pigment that awakens inner passion, stimulating romanticism and sensuality. Rosso, a crimson shade, is the color that revamps Maison Valentino’s lifelong devotion to redefining haute couture.
Charlie Porter’s, Rosso Valentino, explores Valentino’s expedition of red from the brand’s inception with Valentino Garavani, to its current creative director, Pierpaolo Piccoli. Although it may seem that the primary color has little variation, the brand circulates through 550 shades of red in the reworking of over 180 gowns.
With the initial purpose to determine the number of shades recreated, the book serves as a reminder of the color’s boundless variants - including Valentino’s Pink PP capsule from the F/W 2022-2023 collection.
The haute couture archive remains consistent with Pierpaolo Piccoli’s objective to keep the brand’s narrative alive. Piccoli does not wish for the book to read solely as a story of the past, yet rather as a resurfacing of the brand’s continuous creative process that persists through the distinguished hue.
Pierpaolo celebrates, “the beginning of something more” in the “dedication, perseverance and the talent of every single seamstress and tailor that transformed our ideas into reality”: a statement made at Doha’s boutique exhibition upon the book’s release.
From blossoming sheath cocktail dresses to logo 'Rockstud' pumps, Rosso uncovers the color’s esteem across the house’s most iconic designs. A polished curation of Valentino’s history that shares Maison’s love story with rogue: unlocking the symbolic power of color and design.
