There's a new Pantone colour - Pantone Pink PP - and it is divine! Pierpaolo Piccioli unveiled Valentino Autumn Winter 2022 / 2023 in March - entirely pink and black to encourage a "moment of reflection". Pink used to be the colour of the power of men, today it means something entirely different. Seeing Kristen McMenamy swathed in Valentino Pink PP was incredible. As the Valentino show began, Piccioli’s voice read out a message:
“It was a hard week. It is a hard moment. We reacted the only way we know by working. We reacted by not allowing to get paralysed by the fear of war, trying to remember that the privilege of our freedom is now bigger than ever. Our thoughts goes to those who are suffering. We see you. We feel you. And we love you. Because love is the answer, always,”
Pierpaolo Piccioli
I, like many, reacted to Ukraine by working. At first I was paralysed by the fear and by returning to work I figured it would allow my mind to focus and my wallet to contribute to help Ukraine in a tiny way. I adore Piccioli's words and I adore Valentino Pantone Pink. Here's some Natalie Ryan x Pantone Pink PP:
Pink is rampant everywhere, in a total estrangement that includes the set and that is reiterated by the occasional total black and total white intermissions. Pink as a manifestation of the unconscious and a liberation from the need for realism. The accumulation of pink elements is such as to eliminate the visual shock to bring out, together, the unique character of the person, expressed by the face and the eyes, and the work on the pieces of clothing: the signs that shape them into a silhouette, the textures that give them consistency, the decorations that are part of the construction. The subtraction is, in fact, amplification, magnifying both the humans and the clothing. A variety of bodies, attitudes, and physicalities, enhanced by the monochromatic palette, bring such a vision to life.
Valentino A/W 2022
