Giambattista Valli presented his Spring couture show in the Musée des Beaux-Arts in the Petit Palais. Working around a theme that might be dubbed goddesses fallen in a wild garden, the collection started off with a transparent sequence of black-and-white outfits. The cocktail minidresses were paired with black vinyl over-the-knee boots. The evening gowns similarly played with contrasts: pastoral asymmetric bustier dresses paired with ballet slippers versus floor-sweeping gowns in acres of silk chiffon.

“This is, I think, the modernity in haute couture: It’s getting really the best of the atelier and to modernize them — not to have the heaviness, but to keep the lightness, almost like you did it the night before,” Valli explained backstage after the show.

“I don’t work for museums, I don’t work for archives — I really work to dress real women,” he added.

Giambattista Valli Couture Spring 2018

Giambattista Valli Couture Spring 2018

Giambattista Valli Couture Spring 2018

Giambattista Valli Couture Spring 2018

Giambattista Valli Couture Spring 2018

Giambattista Valli Couture Spring 2018

Giambattista Valli Couture Spring 2018

Giambattista Valli Couture Spring 2018

Giambattista Valli Couture Spring 2018

Giambattista Valli Couture Spring 2018

Giambattista Valli Couture Spring 2018

Giambattista Valli Couture Spring 2018

Giambattista Valli Couture Spring 2018

Giambattista Valli Couture Spring 2018

Giambattista Valli Couture Spring 2018

Giambattista Valli Couture Spring 2018

Giambattista Valli Couture Spring 2018

Giambattista Valli Couture Spring 2018

Giambattista Valli Couture Spring 2018

Giambattista Valli Couture Spring 2018

Giambattista Valli Couture Spring 2018

Giambattista Valli Couture Spring 2018

Giambattista Valli Couture Spring 2018

Giambattista Valli Couture Spring 2018

Giambattista Valli Couture Spring 2018

Giambattista Valli Couture Spring 2018

Giambattista Valli Couture Spring 2018

Giambattista Valli Couture Spring 2018

Giambattista Valli Couture Spring 2018

Giambattista Valli Couture Spring 2018

Giambattista Valli Couture Spring 2018

Giambattista Valli Couture Spring 2018

Giambattista Valli Couture Spring 2018

Giambattista Valli Couture Spring 2018

Giambattista Valli Couture Spring 2018

Giambattista Valli Couture Spring 2018

Giambattista Valli Couture Spring 2018

Giambattista Valli Couture Spring 2018

Giambattista Valli Couture Spring 2018

Giambattista Valli Couture Spring 2018

Giambattista Valli Couture Spring 2018

Giambattista Valli Couture Spring 2018

Giambattista Valli Couture Spring 2018

Giambattista Valli Couture Spring 2018

Giambattista Valli Couture Spring 2018

Giambattista Valli Couture Spring 2018

Giambattista Valli Couture Spring 2018

Giambattista Valli Couture Spring 2018

Giambattista Valli Couture Spring 2018

Giambattista Valli Couture Spring 2018

Giambattista Valli Couture Spring 2018

Source: WWD