Valentino: Master of Couture

Innovative exhibition at Somerset House looking at the life and work of the designer Valentino.

The exhibition was in the sections the first looked at the life of Valention through his own archive and the last looked at the craftwork involved in creating the clothes.

The most exciting section was of 130 outfits displayed as the front 2 rows of a catwalk show putting you in the place of the models looking at the audience. This was a really innovate use of the long gallery upstairs at Somerset House and gave a real sense of occasion. It also gave you space to look at the outfits from all angles. They were arranged in lovely colour blocks with sections on day and evening ware.

Of course the evening ware was the most stunning. It was interesting how many designs from the 1950s Valentino kept and did not make up until the 1990s. The use of embroidery was stunning and it was good to get close to see the detail in it.

My favourite pieces came from the 2011 collection and were made using the budellini technic of rolling small tubes of material then joining them together for form the dress. They gave a very elegant shape and texture.

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Independent

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