Established in 1960 by fashion icon Valentino Garavani, Valentino remains one of the best known fashion brands worldwide. It offers a wide range of luxury products, from haute couture and prêt-à-porter to an extensive accessories collection.

Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli were appointed Valentino creative directors in October 2008. Both had worked closely with Garavani for a decade, contributing to the international success of accessories. In their first haute couture collection in Paris in January 2009, they proved their ability to fully understand and interpret the world of Valentino.

With their latest collection, Chiuri and Piccioli have established a new harmonious balance between a woman’s personality, body and her clothes.

Freedom and a sense of optimism define shapes with classic purity that combine grace and precision. The sleek, evanescent silhouette, which is knee-length or down to the ankle, seems to disappear through transparencies.

Precise lines are transformed through the choice of impalpable materials: What seems thick and intense to the touch and eye is materially and metaphorically weightless. Even ruffles, which are central to the spirit of the maison, have a geometric regularity.

Light passing through the fabric becomes a defining element: Long lace skirts are worn with embroidered blouses that appear transparent seen from the side.

Dresses made of impalpable mesh or geometric lace intarsia capture graceful, unfettered movement. Tone-on-tone floral motifs and appliqués have a sensuous yet delicate allure, like shadows passing over the fabric.

Valentino is available only at Adora, 2/F and 3/F, Greenbelt 5, Ayala Center, Makati; tel.  2174029.