Lightness, grace, and precious delicacy are the traits that define the world of Valentino interpreted by Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli. It is inhabited by a female being who is as strong and fragile, consistent and unpredictable, determined and delicate as today’s women. The ateliers of Palazzo Mignanelli, the historic headquarters of the Maison in the heart of Rome, are where contemporary creativity and savoir couture blend in pursuit of timeless elegance spawned by uniqueness, poetry, and invention. A couture object is unique because the talent and skill required to make it – whether it is a T-shirt or an evening dress – are unique. That trait – like a strand of DNA – pervades the Valentino ambiance.
A hint of elegance, fragility, irreverence, and candor emerges in this sensuous, independent person capable of sudden passion and unexpected shyness. Is she an actress? A lover? A figure from a film noir? She seems to say «I am mine» as a fact, not a provocation. To interpret this woman with such crystalline and complex allure, Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli chose the young actress Àstrid Bergès-Frisbey, whose classic face and surprising maturity are a blend of grace and pride. In the portrait by Steven Meisel and directed by Louis Garrel, Àstrid she is both woman and actress, truth and fiction. She breaks the illusion, as in a nouvelle vague film, aware that being yourself also means interpreting a role.
To dress this person with complex simplicity, perfumers Sonia Constant and Antoine Maisondieu imagined a fragrance both classic and mercurial that seems to have always existed: a subtle, light, unique scent with an alluring and profoundly Italian accord. Valentino Donna is mysterious, exquisite and timeless, like a couture object. Rose essence, generously blended with notes of bergamot and iris Pallida, illuminates the fragrance with refined radiance and an impalpable texture. Warm, intense notes of leather blended with patchouli and vanilla express an exquisite, inescapable carnality.
The search for contemporary classicism, and a sense of past and present that characterizes the concept of timeless elegance, are embodied in the bottle, which is both a vessel and a symbol of Valentino Donna. The glass surface is entirely cut in prisms that resemble studs, but could also be the ashlar masonry of an Italian palazzo. The powerful design of the bottle is emphasized and contradicted by the pale pink liquid that can be glimpsed at between the studs: this marvelous image interrupts the rigorousness of the design and conveys a subtle idea of grace.
Take a minute and watch this amazing short movie which was created especially for the launch of their new fragrance.
