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Since stepping into a singular spotlight at Valentino in 2016, Pierpaolo Piccioli’s vision has become a beacon for purity, optimism and extravagance in the fashion world. His determined effort to break down haute couture’s archaic hierarchies of colour and class are a testimony to a grounded, humanist approach to his vocation. He challenges tradition on the runway and off, balancing the intangible quest for sublime beauty that occupies so many creatives with a curious, nonchalant air and the undivided attention and support of his Roman atelier. The results reverberate near and far, touching not only the privileged few fortunate to witness his work first-hand, but countless others who will only ever dream of haute couture onscreen or on the printed page.

In this issue, Rome takes the lead with Pierpaolo as its worthy partner; we become mere spectators as the two dance amongst the city’s hidden gems and majestic clichés. Prefacing his reflections on classicism and a stark contemporary romance, a new still-life portfolio by Joel Meyerowitz exposes Pierpaolo’s confidential cahiers des défilés – the stream-of-consciousness ‘mood books’ the designer incessantly fills with the inspiring material that both informs and results from each collection. Replete with their Valentino red rubber band, they inspire our cover.

Peppered throughout the subsequent pages, a visual essay by American photographer Charles H. Traub documents the faces and places of Pierpaolo’s Rome through his uniquely candid lens – spanning all the way from Valentino’s headquarters by the Spanish Steps to the sandy beaches of Pierpaolo’s hometown of Nettuno, itself a seaside extension of the rambling, eternal city. The late Luigi Ghirri spoke of Traub’s work as though of a mirror: ‘You see our foibles, strip us bare, make love through the camera and then venerate us.’ The same could be said of the magazine’s closing triumph: forty-four studio portraits photographed by Pierpaolo himself between Paris and Rome– an homage to Steven Meisel and a tribute to his friend Franca Sozzani. Their common thread is a bright pink feathered hat, a playful symbol of eleganza that unites each subject as they pose for Pierpaolo: a husband, a father, a co-worker, a dressmaker and a friend.

Dan Thawley, Editor in Chief

Contributors

Alessio Bolzoni, Alexandre Desplat, Benedetta Piccioli, Bruce Weber, Charles H. Traub, Clare Waight Keller, Craig Green, Daniela Storti, Deborah Turbeville, Ernest Pignon Ernest, Francesco Bonami, Giancarlo Giammetti, Greta Bellamacina, Guido Palau, Gwenaël Rattke, Harumi Klossowska de Rola, Joel Meyerowitz, Julianne Moore, Jun Takahashi, Kimberly Drew, Liya Kebede, Lorenzo Castore, Luca Guadagnino, Luigi Ballerini, Marc Jacobs, Marco Gazza, Mariacarla Boscono, Michel Gaubert, Michelangelo Antonioni, Pablo Arroyo, Paolo di Paolo, Pat McGrath, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Nicoletta Odescalchi, Rocco Sergio Baldassarro, Roger Dean, Ryan Aguilar, Sidival Fila, Simona Piccioli, Stella Piccioli, Valeria Merlini, William Kentridge, Yi Tuo, Zandra Rhodes